&> 


vi  B.CLARKE  CD 


,THE  TREE  DOCTOR 


A 
BOOK    ON    TREE    CULTURE 


Illustrated   Profusely   -with    Photographs. 


BY 

OHN    DAVEY, 

\\ 


1904 

THE    SAALFIELD    PUBLISHING    COMPANY 
NKW  YORK  AKRON,  OHIO  CHICAGO 


COPYRIGHT,  1901, 

BY 
JOHN  DAVEY 


INTRODUCTION. 

THE  Americans  are  a  people  who  love  the  beautiful,  and  yet,  strange  to  say,  they  have 
destroyed  the  trees,  which  are  among  the  grandest  objects  of  all  nature.  This, 
however,  has  not  been  intentionally  done.  The  pioneers  made  war  on  trees,  slaughtered 
them,  burnt  them  up  and  got  rid  of  them  the  easiest  and  quickest  way  they  could  devise. 
To  a  certain  extent,  this  was  excusable,  as  the  land  was  needed  for  other  purposes. 
Thousands  now  regret  that  they  did  not  preserve  some  of  the  giants  of  the  native  forests. 
The  majestic  elm  in  this  photograph  is  one  of  them.  What  would  you  give  to  have  it  in 
vour  vard? 


Our  people  now  deeply  deplore  the  mistakes  that  have  been  made,  and  are  spending 
millions  of  dollars  annually,  in  the  hope  of  establishing  sufficient  shade  and  fruit  trees 
for  the  requirements  of  man  and  beast.  In  spite  of  all  their  noble  efforts  they  are  meet- 
ing defeat  on  every  hand.  The  whole  trouble  is  traceable  to  two  oversights.  It  was  my 
intention,  five  years  ago,  to  point  out  these  facts  and  the  accompanying  evils  in  a  lec- 
ture, by  the  aid  of  the  stereopticon ;  but  I  saw  that  a  thousand  persons  in  that  work  could 
not  reach  the  masses  in  ten  years.  Then  I  thought  I  would  write  for  some  papers,  but 


readily  discovered  that  but  comparatively  few  people  could  be  reached,  and  such  read- 
ing is  not  easily  preserved.  Finally,  I  determined  to  put  the  camera  to  work.  Two 
"authorities"  might  disagree  on  a  certain  point,  and  the  public  say,  "They  can't  both 
be  right ;  may  be  both  are  wrong. ' '  When ,  however,  the  camera  gives  you  a  picture, 
that  is  something  from  which  you  cannot  get  away.  I  had  first  intended  to  use  fifty 
photographs,  then  made  it  one  hundred.  Again,  finding  there  was  a  call  for  knowledge 
on  the  landscape  and  floral  arts,  I  have  used  175  photographs,  and  could  use  more  to 
advantage,  but  cannot  for  the  money.  I  desire  to  keep  the  book  at  $1.00,  so  that  it  will 
be  within  the  reach  of  all. 

This  is  an  age  in  which  we  do  things  by  lightning.  People  want  facts,  but  they  must 
have  them  in  a  condensed  form.  I  cover,  in  THE  TREE  DOCTOR,  practically,  all  that 
has  ever  been  written  on  tree  culture.  We  herein  present  to  the  public  the  best  photo- 
engravings, the  best  paper,  with  a  strong  cover,  put  up  by  the  best  of  workmen  and, 
above  all,  knowledge  that  it  has  taken  the  author  more  than  thirty-five  years  to  acquire. 
You  pay  a  dollar  for  a  tree,  shrub  or  plant,  then  lose  it.  You  try  again  and  lose  it, 
because  you  know  not  how  to  proceed.  I  have  known  people  to  order  over  twenty  dol- 
lars' worth  at  once,  and  have  it  nearly  all  die.  THE  TREE  DOCTOR  will  prevent  all  this 
waste  of  money  and  inspire  its  readers  with  the  ambition  to  add  new  beauties  around 
their  homes.  All  scientific  terms  are  avoided.  The  language  used  is  chosen  so  that  it 
will  convey  a  knowledge  of  the  facts  to  the  ablest  scholars  of  the  land,  or  to  the  mer- 
chant, farmer,  mechanic,  laborer,  man  or  woman,  boy  or  girl. 

The  time  has  come  when  tree  planting  and  tree  culture  must  be  studied  in  con- 
nection with  the  physiology  of  plant  life.  If  this  is  not  done,  a  calamity  will  befall  the 
inhabitants  of  these  fruitful  regions  to  an  extent  that  no  human  mind  can  conceive. 

There  are  no  people  on  this  earth  who  are  blessed  with  such  a  scope  of  territory, 
range  of  climate,  variety  of  soil  and  general  adaptation  to  fruit-growing  as  those  of  North 
America.  But  we  are  confronted  with  the  appalling  fact  that,  unless  something  is  done 
to  arrest  the  diseases  and  check  the  ravages  of  the  untold  billions  of  insect  pests  which 
prey  upon  our  apple  trees,  inside  of  ten  years  it  will  be  next  thing  to  impossible  to  grow 
even  defective  apples!  For  the  last  twenty  years  there  has  been  a  gradual  decrease 
in  the  quality  of  this  most  desirable  and  staple  fruit.  Similar  difficulties  are  being  en- 
countered in  the  attempts  to  grow  the  peach,  pear,  plum,  and  other  fruits;  and  shade 
trees  are  going  to  pieces.  The  whole  country  is  getting  alarmed  over  the  disasters  that 
await  us  from  the  destruction  of  our  fruit  crops,  and  many  of  our  ablest  writers  have 
done  nobly  in  their  efforts  to  stay  this  on-coming  tide  of  evil.  Though  much  good  has 
been  done,  for  some  reason  no  one  has  "laid  the  ax  at  the  root"  of  the  trouble.  Some- 
thing has  been  said  about  every  evil  from  which  the  tree  suffers  except  two,  and  to 
these  two  all  the  other  evils  are  traceable. 

The  author  of  THE  TREE  DOCTOR  has  had  the  care  of  trees  and  plants  for  more  than 
thirty-five  years  and  is  an  ardent  lover  of  nature.  The  ghastly  wounds  of  his  friends, 
the  trees,  and  their  various  suffering  (if  you  will  allow  the  expression)  cry  aloud  and 
pierce  his  inmost  soul  and  bid  him  arise  and  plead  their  cause  The  author  is  not  so 
conceited  to  suppose  he  "knows  it  all."  Whatever  knowledge  he  possesses  he  has 
learned  from  others,  or  gained  it  from  observation.  If  nature  has  endowed  him  with  the 
faculty  of  observing  and  the  ability  to  trace  effects  back  to  their  causes,  and  thus  enable 
him  to  find  the  two  real  causes  of  the  present  sickness  and  premature  death  of  trees, 
then,  as  a  member  of  society,  he  owes  that  knowledge  to  the  world  at  large,  and  par- 
ticularly to  the  United  States  of  America,  his  adopted  and  beloved  "home"  to  which, 
with  pleasure,  he  reverently  dedicates  this  work. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


DEPARTMENT  I.     Tree  Surgery. 

Photo  i  presents  to  you  three  Fallawalder  apples.  The  middle  one,  4  inches  in 
diameter,  is  from  a  perfect  tree,  or  as  near  perfect  as  we  could  find.  Its  fruit  was  all 
similar  to  the  specimen  herein  shown.  The  other  two  are  the  same  variety.  The  one  at 
the  left  presents  the  "  nose,"  the  one  to  the  right  the  "stem"  end.  Probably  six  bushels 
of  this  defective  fruit  could  have  been  picked  up  under  the  tree,  at  the  same  time  there 


Photo  3. 

was  not  one  sound  apple  on  it.  Why?  L/ook  at  the  slaughtered  trunk  and  branches 
below,  in  photo  2.  This  tree  is  rotten  clear  through  its  whole  body,  and  the  microscope 
reveals  the  decay  in  the  twigs,  and  in  the  "water-sprouts"  it  is  visible  to  the  naked  eye. 

The  failure  to  obtain  sound  apples,  the  one  most  desirable  and  staple  of  fruits,  is  pro- 
ducing grave  apprehensions  throughout  the  United  States.  Apples,  even  from  some  of 
the  western  states,  where  there  are  but  comparatively  few  insects,  are  becoming  defective, 
and  the  tendency  is  to  blame  it  all  to  the  rapid  invasion  of  insect  pests.  Scarcely  anyone 
seems  to  think  that  it  is  we  unwise  creatures  who  have  created  the  conditions  for  this 
alarming  increase  of  our  enemies,  the  innumerable  billions  of  insects.  In  the  front  of 
your  house  is  a  tree  whose  branches  intercept  your  view.  This  you  will  not  tolerate. 
You  get  the  ax  and  saw  and  call  the  hired  man:  ''Ho!  James;  come  here.  I  want  you 
to  trim  that  tree."  James  goes  to  work  at  it,  following  your  directions,  or  using  his  best 
judgment.  Sir,  or  madam,  you  have  spent  your  money  freely  to  procure  your  fruit  and 
shade  trees,  and  now,  after  kind  nature  has  lent  her  assistance  to  give  you  favorable 
results,  you  unintentionally  commit  one  of  the  gravest  of  blunders.  If  your  child's  arm 
or  leg  has  to  be  amputated,  whom  do  you  call  to  perform  the  operation? 

Do  you  send  for  the  butcher,  because  he  can  do  a  quick  and  cheap  job?  No!  The 
time  it  takes  and  what  it  costs  are  scarcely  thought  of.  There  is  a  life  at  stake,  and  the 
most  skilful  surgeon  you  can  procure  is  the  one  you  will  endeavor  to  get.  Did  you  ever 
stop  to  think,  for  a  moment,  that  the  tree  has  life  just  as  really  as  you  have?  You  know 

6 


this  to  be  a  fact,  but  the  ques- 
tion I  present  is,  have  you 
thought  over  it?  The  human 
being  and  the  tree  both  have 
to  feed  to  live;  both  have  cir- 
culation, one  a  red  fluid 
which  we  call  "  blood  ";  the 
other  a  transparent  fluid 
which  we  call  "sap."  Both 
have  their  seasons  of  activity 
and  rest.  The  human  being 
has  the  period  of  infancy, 
childhood,  maturity  and  old 
age.  The  trees  would  have 
these  stages,  but  we  kill 
them  (or  many  of  them)  be- 
fore they  are  "of  age."  It 
matters  not  if  we  do  this  un- 
wittingly; natural  "law  ex- 
cuses no  one's  ignorance" 
any  more  than  civil  law  does. 

Imagine  that  in  some 
city  there  is  a  concern  estab- 
lished, called  "The  Mutilat- 
ing, Chopping  and  Destroy- 
ing Bureau,"  and  the  only 
recommendation  they  pre- 
sent is  "speed."  William 
Brown,  a  mail-carrier,  comes 
in  to  have  a  foot  off.  He 
places  his  limb  on  the  block; 
one  vigorous  "  whack  "  and 
the  job  is  done.  "Take  your 
mail-pouch,  William;  hustle 
off  and  make  your  deliveries. 
You  will  bleed  some,  and 
find  it  a  little  inconvenient 
to  get  used  to  the  stub,  but 
all  will  be  O.  K.  if  j'ou  won't 
meddle  with  the  wound!" 
Here  comes  John  Adams,  a 
penman ;  his  right  hand  both- 
ers him  a  little.  "  Lay  that 
arm  down  here,  John."  "Ca- 
whack!"  The  job  is  done  ! 
"Move  on!  You  need  pay 
no  attention  to  the  streaming 
veins  and  arteries;  put  on  a 
handful  of  mud  now  and 
then,  and  if  the  flies  'blow' 
in  the  wound,  don't  disturb 
the  maggots!" 

Such  proceedings  would 
not  be  any  more  outrageous 


against  life  than  what  we  have  been  doing  with  trees.  Talking  with  a  practical  and 
well-read  man  awhile  ago,  he  said  that  no  one  should  be  allowed  to  prune  a  tree,  unless 
he  held  a  certificate  showing  that  he  was  qualified.  That  would  be  preferable  to  the 
present  destruction.  But  the  better  way  is  to  educate  all  people.  This  is  the  purpose  of 
THE  TREE  DOCTOR. 

The  first  thing  to  be  considered  before  you  sever  a  limb  is,  "  Where  shall  I  cut  ?"  In 
photo  4  you  will  see  three  specimens.  Study  the  one  to  the  left.  You  will  notice  a 
"stub"  left  on  the  branch  about  as  you  will  commonly  see  them  after  the  tree  has  been 
"trimmed"  by  the  average  person,  who  has  not  made  a  study  of  this  very  important  sub- 
ject. This  stub  rots  back  to  a  certain  point  called  the  "  shoulder." 

The  middle  specimen,  in  that  photo,  shows  you  a  case  a  year  after  the  cut  was 
made.  The  bark  is  decayed  and  peeled  off,  and  to  the  right  is  an  example  of  the  invaria- 
ble outcome.  It  takes  six  or  seven  years  for  this  stub  to  rot  and  drop  out.  Nature  strug- 
gles in  every  way  to  heal  over  the  wound,  but  cannot  do  it  while  the  obstacle  is  in  the 
way.  The  reason  why  this  stub  dies  is  because  there  are  no  latent  buds  remaining  to  be 
excited  and  started  into  growth,  thereby  preserving  a  circulation,  as  shown  in  photo  6. 
In  photo  5  the  same  specimens  are  turned  so  that  you  can  see  how  the  wood  is  affected. 

Looking  back  at  the  middle  specimen  of  photo  4,  you  will  see  that  the  stub  has  dried, 
because  it  has  been  exposed  to  rain,  frost,  snow,  etc.  The  result  is,  decay  has  set  in  and 
has  run  into  the  trunk  of  the  tree,  as  you  can  see  by  looking  at  the  same  piece  turned 
over  in  photo  5.  In  this  (photo  5),  if  you  examine  the  right-hand  specimen,  you  will 
see  that  by  the  time  the  stub  decays  and  drops  out,  the  rot  has  gone  down  into  the  trunk 
and  up  into  the  branches.  This  answers  to  blood  poisoning  in  the  human  body.  This 
dead  tissue,  as  before  stated,  is  carried  to  the  farthermost  twigs,  causing  "specks,"  "  dry 
rot,"  etc.,  in  the  fruit.  If  you  turn  back  to  photo  3,  you  will  see  what  destructive  work 
has  been  perpetrated  on  an  otherwise  fine  specimen  of  Summer  Rambo  apple  tree. 
Directly  in  front  of  you  is  a  wound  where  a  stub  was  left  till  it  rotted  out.  The  birds 
have  dug  clear  into  the  heart  of  the  tree.  To  the  right  is  an  old  sore,  larger  still.  A  year 
ago,  in  order  to  plow  in  a  little  closer,  the  farmer  took  his  ax  and  slashed  off  the  huge 
limb  at  the  left,  leaving,  as  you  can  see,  a  stub  over  a  foot  long.  In  order  to  have 
removed  this  limb  a  sharp  saw,  with  plenty  of  "  set,"  should  have  been  used,  and  the  cut 
should  have  been  made  close  to  the  larger,  upright  branch,  where  the  line  is  placed. 
(For  cutting  large  branches,  see  elsewhere.) 

You  will  hear  all  kinds  of  "hobbies"  as  to  how  a  tree  should  be  "pruned";  but,  the 
fact  is,  when  a  branch  has  to  come  off  entire,  there  is  but  one  correct  place  to  make  the 
cut.  Turn  again  to  photo  4.  In  the  left-hand  specimen  the  saw  has  been  run  in  and  a 
piece  of  paper  is  placed  there.  About  2  inches  to  the  right  of  the  paper  is  a  prominence, 
which  is  what  we  call  the  "  shoulder."  At  this  place  nature  always  makes  a  vigorous 
effort  to  heal.  This  is  a  very  strong  point  that  connects  the  limb  with  the  trunk  of  the 
tree.  It  answers  to  the  "socket"  of  the  arm.  If  you  look  at  the  middle  subject,  in  that 
photo,  you  will  see  what  an  effort  nature  made  in  one  year  to  heal  at  this  shoulder,  but 
could  not,  because  the  dry  stub  was  in  the  way.  Look  still  farther  to  the  right-hand  one, 
and  see  what  a  desperate  attempt  was  made  to  close  in  after  the  decaying  piece  that  stood 
in  the  way  and  conveyed  the  air,  water  and  frost  down  the  wood  fibre,  where  it  wrought 
such  destructive  work!  If  you  turn  to  photo  17,  you  will  see  these  "shoulders"  very 
plain  in  that  maple.  The  maple  shows  this  prominence  much  more  distinctly  than 
some  other  species.  It  is  also  very  plain  in  photo  16,  by  the  side  of  which  the  high- 
school  girl  is  standing.  Look  at  the  hole  that  is  rotted  into  this  fine  cut  of  timber!  See 
the  decaying  stub,  also,  above.  If  you  will  examine  the  trees  that  go  down  in  wind- 
storms, you  will  find  nearly  all  are  defective.  (Those  destroyed  by  cyclones  are  some- 
times exceptions.) 

I  have  told  you  where  to  cut,  and  it  may  be  well  to  add  a  few  words  how  to  perform 
the  act.  There  is  a  strong  tendency  for  some  of  the  wood  and  bark  to  split  down. 
Sometimes,  if  care  is  not  taken,  the  bark  will  split  down  several  feet.  To  avoid  this,  it 


Photo  7. 


Photo  9. 

is  customary  to  cut  up  under. 
A  much  better  way  is  to  cut 
the  whole  branch  off,  out,  say, 
two  feet  from  the  trunk.  This 
relieves  the  heavy  weight. 
Then  you  can  start  the  saw  at 
the  "shoulder"  and  can  easily 
manage  the  remaining  stub. 
Sometimes  the  branch  is  so 
attached  that  you  cannot  get 
behind  it  with  a  saw.  In  such 
cases,  those  who  can  swing  an 
ax  well  can  make  a  good,  clean 
cut  with  that  implement,  strik- 
ing up  from  under.  Those 
who  are  unaccustomed  to  the  ax  should  use  a  large  chisel,  as  shown  in  photo  n.  Never 
leave  the  wound  hacked  and  lacerated.  Cutting  upward  with  the  grain  is  essential. 

DRESSING  THE  WOUNDS. 

I  have  never  seen  the  matter  of  dressing  the  wounds  presented  with  one-tenth  of  the 
strength  that  it  should  be.  The  wounds  not  only  "  ought  to  be  painted,"  but  positively 
they  must  be,  or  the  premature  death  of  your  tree  will  follow.  Look  at  photo  7.  This 
is  a  "crotched"  apple  tree.  You  behold  two  old  sores.  The  cut  was  made  in  the  right 
place  in  both  cases,  but  it  was  not  painted.  See  what  excellent  efforts  nature  has  made 
in  both  to  cover  up  the  wound  !  Hut  the  action  of  frost,  air  and  rain  have  done  their 
deadly  work.  In  photo  8  this  same  tree  is  presented,  with  the  worst  of  the  old  sores 
traced  down — uncovered.  What  a  nauseating  sight  !  And  yet  this  is  not  half  as  bad  as 
two-thirds  of  the  apple  orchards  of  Ohio.  From  such  trees  you  expect  sound  fruit,  do 

9 


Photo  8. 


you?  As  before  remarked,  you  have  not 
purposely  wrought  such  destructive  work; 
it  is  a  deplorable  oversight.  But  nature 
is  meeting  out  a  just  retribution.  She 
is  sending  you  to  market  with  the 
"  specked,"  wormy  and  half  rotten  fruit, 
which  is  everywhere  offered  for  sale. 

This  last  season  I  have  kept  close 
watch  of  the  Cleveland  markets.  At 
Chandler  &  Rudd's,  O'Brien's  and  other 
places,  where  they  pay  the  highest  prices 
for  the  best  of  everything,  I  have  not 
found  one  sound  bushel  of  apples.  In- 
deed, it  is  a  rare  thing  to  find  one  sound 
apple  in  a  whole  bushel.  This  dire  calam- 
ity is  to  be  traced  largely  to  the  wounded 
trees.  Such  "blood  poisoning,"  if  you 
will  allow  the  expression,  affects  the  fruit 
directly.  Also  the  wounds  and  decayed 
wood  become  the  lurking  place  for  count- 
less billions  of  insects. 

This  whole  matter  should  be  taken 

hold  of  with  vigor,  not  only  by  the  pomological,  horticultural  and  agricultural  societies, 

but  by  the  masses  in  general. 


Let  us  return  to  the  study  of  our  pho- 
tographs. In  photo  9  you  have  an  example 
where  the  snow  and  ice  broke  down  a  large 
branch.  The  wound  was  not  attended  to 
for  some  three  years.  The  old,  dead  wood 
has  now  been  dug  out  and  a  heavy  coat  of 
paint  applied.  The  tree  is  badly  damaged, 
but  if  this  wound  be  dressed  every  year,  it 
will  last,  probably,  a  long  time.  Photo  10 
presents  another  old  sore  that  had  been 
doctored.  This  is  a  genuine  Rock  Maple. 
The  tree  is  in  excellent  condition  in  all 
other  respects.  A  branch  was  cut  off  and 
allowed  to  split  the  bark  down.  The  wound 
was  not  dressed.  It  was  exposed  for  some 
six  or  seven  years.  Finally  the  owner 
called  on  us  to  attend  to  it.  We  found  that 
the  rot  had  penetrated  nearly  to  the  heart 
of  the  tree.  By  the  use  of  a  mallet  and 
chisel  all  the  decaying  bark  and  wood  was 
removed.  The  process  was  much  the  same 
as  a  surgeon  would  adopt  in  scraping  a 
diseased  bone.  Everything  was  cut  away 
until  healthy  wood  was  reached.  Then  the 
cavity  was  filled  in  with  putty,  using  a 
mallet  and  a  short  piece  of  wood,  driving 
the  putty  in  solid.  Then  it  was  painted. 
It  was  not  seen  for  two  years.  It  was  then 
discovered  that  the  lower  part  of  the  cavity 
had  not  been  cut  quite  slanting  enough, 
and  the  water  had  lodged  there,  causing 
decay  to  start  in  again.  But  if  you  will 
observe  the  upper  portion  around  the  putty, 
you  will  see  what  a  most  excellent  healing 
operation  has  been  going  on. 

In  photo  23  you  have  another  example 
of  what  evil  can  be  done  by  allowing  the 
bark  to  split  down  and  the  neglect  of  dress- 
ing the  wound.  The  huge  cavity  where 
the  lady's  hand  is  presents  to  you  one  of 
those  cases.  The  whole  block  of  wood 
which  you  see  is  the  "head"  of  an  apple 
tree.  It  is  the  junction  of  the  stem  and 
large  branches.  The  point  facing  you, 
where  it  has  been  sawed  off,  was  the  upper 
part  of  the  trunk.  By  this  you  can  see  how 
the  rot  ran  down.  In  the  photo  below  (24) 
you  have  the  same  block  turned  around. 
Bv  this  you  will  observe  how  the  action  of 
decay  traveled  «/>  into  the  main  arms.  As 
before  stated,  if  you  trace  this  decay  with 
the  microscope  you  will  find  that  the  tree 
is  affected,  root  and  branch,  to  the  farthest 
extremities.  And  yet,  from  this  you  would 


expect  sound  apples,  would  you?  This  tree,  like  all  such,  became  a  victim  of  a  wind 
storm.  If  you  turn  back  again  to  photo  4,  to  the  left-hand  specimen,  you  will  see  where 
the  piece  of  paper  is  laid  in.  It  would  be  a  mistake  in  pruning  to  cut  at  that  point,  be- 
cause you  would  not  only  be  cutting  nearly  lengthwise  with  the  wood  fibre  (grain  of  the 
wood),  but  you  would  inflict  an  unnecessarily  large  wound.  If  you  cut  at  the  "shoulder" 
the  sap  comes  up  from  all  directions,  from  under,  from  the  top  and  sides.  If  the  wound 
be  dressed  thoroughly  with  thick  paint  a  healthly  granulation  will  immediately  set  in, 
provided  it  be  the  right  time  of  the  year.  A  fine  specimen  of  healing  is  presented  in 
photo  18.  This  is  hard  maple  ;  it  was  cut  at  the  "shoulder"  and  well  painted.  You  can 
observe  the  saw  marks  through  the  paint.  The  new  bark,  somewhat  resembling  a  horse- 
shoe, is  the  work  of  only  forty-two  days.  This  is  what  nature  will  do  when  you  lend  a 

1-2 


little  assistance.  Years  ago  careful  orchardists  used  to  apply 
grafting-wax  and  other  preparations  to  wounds,  but  later  ex- 
perience has  proven  that  nothing  is  better  than  good,  thick 
paint  (no  matter  what  color).  It  should  be  applied  to  all 
wounds  more  than  half  an  inch  in  diameter.  All  large  wounds 
should  be  painted  twice  a  year.  Photo  1 7. 

"//<?r£;  large  a  limb  can  I  cut  /"  is  a  question  frequently 

asked.  Let  photo  19  answer  this.  Here  is  a  wound  nearly  two  feet  long.  It  has  been 
well  painted,  and  granulation  is  setting  in  finely,  especially  where  the  boy's  right  hand 
is.  This  limb  constituted  nearly  one-fourth  of  the  tree,  but  it  made  the  tree  lop-sided. 
In  looking  at  this  photo  your  back  is  supposed  to  be  to  the  east.  Photo  20  is  the  same 
tree  with  your  back  to  the  north.  By  this  you  will  learn  that  the  cut  was  made  in  a 
straight,  perpendicular  line  with  the  main  trunk,  or,  if  anything,  a  little  "dished,"  so 
that  when  it  heals  the  line  will  be  straight.  In  photo  21  is  a  large  wound  more  than 
half  healed  over,  and  in  22  is  a  wound  on  an  oak,  15  inches  in  diameter,  completely  healed 
in  the  most  perfect  manner.  Small-sized  wounds  (3  or  4  inches  in  diameter)  will  heal 
over,  if  the  cut  is  made  in  the  right  place,  even  though  the  wound  be  not  dressed. 
Photo  12  (from  a  horse-chestnut  tree)  presents  this  fact.  Photo  13  is  the  same  piece 
turned  around.  Beneath  that  nicely  healed  wound  was  a  rotten  mass  of  wood  fibre 
running  into  the  main  branch  5  or  6  inches.  The  poor  tree,  however,  was  not  to 
blame.  The  evil  must  be  charged  up  to  some  "  tree  butcher."  Photo  14  shows  you  two 
specimens  from  an  elm  tree.  They  were  properly  cut  and  well  dressed.  Photo  15  is  the 
same  reversed.  You  can  see,  even  in  the  photo,  that  the  wood  is  solid.  The  "  hearts,"' 
or  dark  centers,  are  so  hard  that  if  you  tap  on  them  they  sound  like  metal. 

"  When  is  the  proper  time  to  prune?"  This  question  comes  from  almost  everyone 
interested  in  a  tree  or  plant.  Many  excellent  authorities  advocate  winter  pruning.  While 
I  have  no  serious  objection  to  offer  against  the  fall  and  winter  months;  yet,  most  decid- 
edly, I  have  had  the  best  results  in  the  growing  season.  Everyone,  however,  should 
avoid  pruning  when  the  sap  starts  into  an  active  flow,  for  two  reasons.  First,  the  bark 
will  very  easily  strip  down,  even  on  small  branches;  and  second,  the  sap  is  thin  and  flows 
so  copiously  that  it  is  sometimes  almost  impossible  to  make  paint  adhere  to  the  wound. 
There  is  a  common  rule  among  the  German  fanners  (and  it's  a  good  one),  "start  U> 
prune  when  the  apple  trees  are  in  bloom."  The  sap  has  then  become  sufficiently  thick- 
ened that  the  tree  will  not  "  bleed."  Moreover,  you  can  then  see^all  dead  or  defective 
13 


branches.  You  can 
prune  with  safety  from 
this  time  till  the  leaves 
fall,  and  the  work  can 
be  executed  with 
pleasure. 

Don't  depend  on 
"hobos,"  adventurers 
and  imposters  who 
have  "nerve"  enough 
to  pose  as  "tree  trim- 
mers." There  is  a 
story  of  an  Irishman 
who  claimed  to  under- 
stand the  art  of  "trim- 
ming" trees.  He  was 
sent,  one  morning,  to 
trim  the  orchard.  At 
noon  his  boss  inquired 
how  he  was  progress- 
ing. "An'  fath,  sur, 
Oi've  got  them  all  cut 
down,  an'  Oi'll  trim 
them  up  this  after- 
noon," was  his  report. 
It  would  be  about  as 
well  for  the  average 
tree-butcher  to  follow 
Pat's  example  as  to  cut 
off  one-half  and  start 
the  other  dying.  Study 

the  life  of  your  plants  and  trees  and  learn  to  do  your  own  tree  surgery,  or  direct  it  per- 
sonally. The  wind  sometimes  will  split  a  branch  clear  to  the  ground.  Photo  25  is  an 
example  .  The  wood,  however,  was  painted  and  is  being  preserved  in  a  solid  condition. 
Photo  26  is  another  specimen,  but  the  wound  has  not  been  dressed.  It  is  a  sickening 
sight  of  dead  wood  fibre  and  haunts  for  innumerable  hosts  of  insects.  It  is  a  Rambo  tree, 
but  the  fruit  has  scarcely  a  trace  of  that  delicious  variety;  it  has  a  flat,  soggy,  dead-wood 
taste.  Photo  27  is  also  an  apple  tree,  and  some  years  ago  was  struck  by  a  plow,  drag  or 
something  of  the  kind.  The  fruit  is  about  as  worthless  as  the  preceding  Rambo.  Peo- 
ple are  sometimes  very  thoughtless  when  working  around  trees,  but  the  penalty  must  be 
paid  for  all  violation  of  nature's  laws.  In  planting  orchards,  farmers  would  do  well  to 
use  the  simple  tree  guard  shown  in  photo  100.  It  will  pay  you  well  to  keep  your  trees 
clean.  Photo  28  shows  a  boy  "  currying  the  tree."  He  is  using  an  old  currycomb,  and 
the  little  folks  are  around  him  learning  how  to  do  it.  A  tree  will  thrive  by  being  cleaned 
just  as  much  as  a  horse  will;  besides,  you  destroy  the  shelter  of  your  enemies,  the  insects. 
An  acquaintance  of  mine  told  me  that  some  years  ago  he  climbed  into  an  old  apple  tree 
to  remove  some  branches.  He  had  on  an  old  pair  of  buckskin  gloves.  He  commenced 
to  rub  off  the  old  bark,  and  he  fussed  and  ivorked  and  rubbed  till  he  had  cleaned  the 
whole  tree.  This  destroyed  the  abode  of  insects  and  admitted  light,  air  and  moisture  to 
the  hide-bound  tree.  The  result  was,  as  he  said,  "a  new  lease  of  life  to  the  tree,  and  an 
abundance  of  fine  fruit."  Keep  your  trees  clean. 


NOW  FOR  A  CHANGE! 

You  have  been  vexed  and  irritated  bv  seeing  how  our  friends,  the  trees,  can  be  muti- 
lated and  destroyed  by  the  ruthless  hand  of  unqualified  persons.  Now  we  turn  to  a  few 
of  nature's  majestic  beauties.  If  you  glance  at  photo  29  you  will  learn  how  nature  plants 
a  tree.  She  drops  a  seed  on  the  ground,  then  blows  a  few  leaves  or  some  other  substance 
on  it,  enough  to  keep  it  moist  while  the  seed  germinates.  The  radicle  penetrates  the 
soil  and  throws  out  some  tiny  little  white  rootlets,  which,  in  this  case,  have  become  the 

powerful  bracing  roots 
before  you,  which  now 
hold  this  gigantic  elm 
to  its  mooring.  It  is 
some  14  feet  across 
from  one  root  to  the 
other,  as  you  see  it,  on 
the  surface  of  the  soil. 
As  the  delicate  little 
infant  plant  pushed 
forth  from  its  embry- 
otic  state  a  mouse 
might  have  clipped  it 
off  and  scarcely  felt 
anything  between  its 
teeth  ;  the  foot  of  a 
clumsy  toad  might 
have  snapped  it  off, 
or  "a  dew-drop  on  this 
baby  plant  have 
warped  this  giant  elm 
forever. ' ' 

This  venerable  old 
friend  was  born,  prob- 
ably, about  the  period 
when  the  Indians  pur- 
sued Captain  Samuel 
Brady,  compelling  the 
heroic  Brad}-  to  make 
a  leap  of  22  feet,  clear- 
ing  the  Cuyahoga 
River  at  the  Narrows, 
about  a  mile  east  of 
this  health}-  veteran  of 
the  native  forest, 
which  stands  here  now 
a  rebuke  to  ignorant 
'  'tree-butchers. ' '  What 
a  study  there  is  in  this 
tree  for  young  people. 
When  the  radicle  (tap- 
root) had  gone  down 
a  little  and  commenced 
its  work,  then  the 
plumule  shot  up,  bear- 
ing with  it  the  coty- 
ledons, or  seed  leaves. 


Photo  21. 


The  process  of  tree-building  has  gone  on  year  after  year 
till  now  you  see  a  mammoth  beauty  about  a  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  high.  You  are  presented  with  a  view  of  this 
plant  across  one  of  the  celery  fields  adjoining  (photo  30). 
The  tree  is  the  tallest  one  to  the  right.  A  violent  cyclone 
tore  a  branch  from  it  some  few  years  ago,  as  it  did  also 
from  its  neighbor. 

(Many  of  our  readers  probably  never  saw  celery 
growing  on  a  large  scale.  This  is  the  White  Plume  vari- 
ety, taken  under  a  strong  sunlight.  This  is  a  part  of 
Pleasant  Valley  Celery  Farm,  at  Kent,  Ohio.  If  you  get 
hungry  for  good  celery,  better  write  them.) 

It  appears  that  trees  are  like  persons — some  born  to 
reach  the  top  round  in  the  ladder  of  fame,  while  the 
masses  pass  into  oblivion  as  if  they 
never  had  existed.  Photo  31  is  a 
good  example  of  the  '  'sugar  maple' ' 
of  Northeastern  Ohio.  It  has  been 
"trimmed,"  but  not  by  an  ignorant 
man.  The  "tree-butcher"  would 
have  killed  it  years  ago.  The 
"trimming,"  you  will  notice,  has 
been  performed  in  a  very  system- 
atic  manner-  The  "professors" 

r  who  ^ia(^  ^ie  J°^  *n  cnar&e  were 

'  *^  5':'  KB   r«JPm     Efttfl        horses  and  cattle ;  they  nibbled  off 

the  branches  as  high  as  they  could 
reach.  The  upper  parts  of  the  tree 
have  adjusted  themselves  to  the 
light  and  air.  The  top  leans  a  little 
in  a  northeasterly  direction.  You 
will  see  hundreds  of  trees  that  lean 
in  this  way.  It  is  due  to  the  steady 
breezes  that  blow  from  the  west  and 
southwest.  Photo  87  is  an  example 
of  this.  This  tree  is  a  young  elm. 
It  is  situated  where  the  wind,  after 
coming  over  a  hill,  becomes  com- 
pressed and  keeps  a  steady  pres- 
sure on  it,  and  the  tender  branches 
grow  where  they  are  kept  by  the 
force  of  the  wind.  The  remedy  is 
to  cut  off  the  branches  where  the 

lines  are,  leaving  a  heavier  portion  of  the  head  on  the  side  toward  the  wind.  Dress  the 
wounds  as  directed  under  that  head.  Cut  off  all  branches  under  the  horizontal  line  and 
all  to  the  left  of  the  vertical  one.  Photo  32  exhibits  a  lovely  maple  about  seventy  feet 
high.  The  picture  was  taken  at  quite  a  distance  and  during  a  strong  wind,  which  shook 
the  camera  and  slightly  blurred  the  picture.  You  will  observe  how  nicely  this,  also,  is 
"trimmed."  Prince  and  Dick  and  Charley  and  Bossy  have  done  this  at  their  leisure, 
while  they  stamped  and  switched  off  the  flies.  You  will  notice  in  this  case,  also,  how 
mother  (nature)  has  taken  care  of  the  upper  stories.  The  one  great  lesson  that  mother 
thus  teaches  us  is,  form  the  top  the  right  height  and  then  keep  hands  off.  It  is  the  desire 
of  the  author  of  this  work  that  you  study,  above  any  other  part,  the  lessons  on  planting, 
and  forming  the  tops  of  trees.  See  elsewhere. 

16 


Photo  34  shows 
you  a  basswood  tree. 
The  horses  and  cattle 
"trimmed  "this,  also. 
It  has  now  been  en- 
closed in  a  new  part 
of  a  cemetery.  The 
basswood  makes  a 
fine  shade  tree.  It 
has  strong  lateral 
branches,  and  it  is 
one  of  thebest  honey- 
producing  plants  we 
have.  Plant  more  of 
them.  Photo  33  pre- 
sents to  your  view  a 
genuine  sugar  maple, 
the  same  as  in  31. 
This  grew  up  in  the 
forest  and  was  al- 
lowed to  stand  in  the 
"  clearing."  The 
land  around  it  has 
been  cultivated  for 
more  than  twenty 
years.  The  trunk  is 
some  3  feet  through 
at  the  base,  and  the 
owner  is  careful  not 
to  have  it  marred. 
This  tree  shows  you 
that  you  can  form  the 
top  at  any  height  you 
please.  You  can  have 
the  branches  drag  on 
the  ground,  or  form 
the  head  33  feet  from 

the  ground,  as  this  is.  Photo  35  gives  you  two  mammoth  oaks,  remnants  of  the  forest. 
The  picture  does  not  do  them  justice.  They  are  so  large  the  camera  would  not  take 
them  in  when  near  by.  The  right-hand  one  is  some  6  feet  through  at  the  base.  The 
principal  thing  we  want  you  to  observe  in  this  is  their  powerful  arms.  Whether  the 
"tree-butcher"  has  been  kept  away  from  these  oaks  with  the  broom  stick  or  shotgun,  I 
know  not,  but  they  are  fine  object  lessons,  as  are  the  others  preceding.  They  all  teach 
what  your  trees  "might  have  been"  under  right  conditions,  and  we  know,  kind  readers, 
that  you  have  invested  your  monev  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  such  majestic  beauties; 
and  though  you  have  failed,  if  you  will  follow  the  teachings  of  THE  TREE  DOCTOR  in 
planting  and  trimming  trees,  you  or  your  descendants  shall  attain  unto  this  desirable  end. 
Photo  36  shows  you  a  young  rock,  or  sugar  maple.  Though  these  are  slower  grow- 
ing than  the  soft  maple,  yet  it  pays  to  wait  for  their  strong  makeup  and  beauty  of  foliage. 

WHAT  THE  TELEPHONE  AND  TELEGRAPH  COMPANIES  DO. 

Photo  37  gives  you  a  view  of  a  handsome  row  of  young  rock  maples.  They  were  the 
pride  of  the  owner  of  the  farm.  They  were  planted  in  the  fence  row.  Looking  down 
the  road  you  will  see  that  the  street  bends  a  little  to  the  right.  The  trees  were  continued 


down  that  line.  The  owner  of  the  property  fell  sick.  During  his  absence  the  telephone 
company  came  along,  keeping  to  the  left.  When  they  came  to  the  bend  in  the  road  they 
crossed  over  and  planted  their  poles  by  the  young  trees,  and  cut  perpendicular,  taking 
off  one-half  of  the  trees.  Photo  38  will  give  you  some  idea  of  their  slaughter,  though  the 
picture  is  not  very  plain.  Photo  40  shows  you  how  they  slaughtered  one  of  the  most 
symmetrical  maples  that  could  be  found  anywhere.  Photo  39  reveals  their  fiendish 
work  on  two  grand  oaks.  Whether  such  fellows  should  be  put  into  the  "  pen,"  hanged, 
shot  or  drowned,  or  all  of  it,  is  difficult  to  say,  but  farmers  are  a  consummate  lot  of  fools 
to  allow  such  destruction  of  trees  and  consequent  de- 
preciation of  property.  Telephone  and  telegraph  com- 
panies are  in  business  for  the  money  that  is  in  it,  and 
let  them  buy  the  right  of  way  through  the  open  field, 
which  is  the  proper  place  to  go. 

FORKED  OR  CROTCHED  TREES 

are  the  most    difficult    class  of  trees  to  prune,   and- 
"doctored"  they  must  be  or  the  winds,  snow  and  sleet 
will  destroy  them.     Photo  41  had  a  very  graceful  top 
and  was  highly  prized   by  the  owner.     He  saw  the 
danger  and  placed  the  chain  around  it.    The  tree  grew 
and  the  chain  cut  into  the  bark.      With  the  pressure 
from  the  growth  and  the  friction  from  the  swaying  of 
the  tree  by  the  wind,  it  became  completely 
girdled;  death  was  the  result.     Photo  42  is  an- 
other  example.     This  tree   could  have   been 
saved  if  a  bolt  had  been  put  through  at  the 
point  indicated  by  the  line.     Both  this  and  the 
foregoing  tree  are  maples.     There  is  one  vari- 
ety of  hard  maple  that  has  a  strong  tendency 
to   be   c notched.      The  largest  tree  in   photo 
40  is  one  of  that  variety.     Contrast  this  one 
with  the  strong-armed  rock  maple  in  photo  36. 
Soft  maples,  also,  are  very  apt  to  be  forked. 
Elms,  too,  have  a  great  tendency  to  this  weak 


Photo  25. 


Photo  26. 


form  of  branching; 
photo  43  is  an  exam- 
ple. This  is  a  very 
large  tree  and  was  in 
perfect  pealth,  but  it 
went  to  pieces  in  a 
wind-storm.  It  is 
now  completely 
ruined.  It  should 
have  had  two  bolts  of 
inch  iron  or  steel. 
The  upper  bolt 
would  have  held  the 
two  branches  indi- 
cated, and  the  lower 
one  in  like  manner. 
Apple  trees,  also, 
have  a  great  ten- 
dency to  crotchiness. 
They  should  be 
watched  and  bolted. 
Photo  45  is  an  exam- 
ple of  unexpected 
trouble.  There  was 
no  particular  sign  of 
weakness  in  this 
case.  But  it  had  been 
gradually  weakened 
and  the  water  had 
found  its  way  in,  fol- 
lowed by  a  slight  rot  down  as  far  as  the  cross  line.  Just  the  weight  of  the  crop  or  apples 
broke  it  down.  I  speak  of  the  bolt,  as  that  is  the  best  method  of  preventing  the  trouble. 
Chains  and  bands  are  objectionable  on  account  of  their  "chafing"  tendencies.  In 
photo  44  you  have  a  case  of  a  large  maple  split  clear  to  the  ground.  It  gaped  with 
every  wind-storm.  Two  %  bolts  were  used  at  a  point  where  the  bits  of  paper  are  tacked 
on.  It  is  nine  years  since  this  was  bolted.  Putty  and  old  dregs  of  paint  were  worked 
into  the  crevices  above  to  keep  out  the  water,  and  a  wonderful  process  of  healing  has 
been  going  on  down  the  wounded  sides  of  the  trunk.  But  this  tree  has  recently  taught 
a  valuable  lesson.  A  violent  wind-storm  tore  off  one-half  of  the  top,  just  where  the  bolt 
was  put  through,  revealing  to  what  an  alarming  extent  decay  had  penetrated  and  weak- 
ened the  wood  before  the  tree  was  drawn  together  with  bolts.  We  commonly  practice 
bolting  in  the  way  shown  on  the  horse-chestnut  in  photo  46.  The  bolt  might  have  been 
put  as  high  as  indicated  by  the  right  hand.  The  higher  the  bolt  the  less  the  strain  from 
above.  Always  fill  in  around  the  bolt  with  putty  or  thick  paint  to  exclude  the  air  and 
moisture. 

To  show  you  how  common  it  is  for  trees  to  be  crotchy,  we  call  your  attention  to 
photo  47.  These  are  fairly  healthy  elms,  but  no  less  than  five  of  them  that  you  can  see 
are  so  badly  forked  that  they  will  be  torn  to  pieces  by  the  wind.  The  only  way  to 
prolong  the  life  of  that  row  of  trees  would  be  to  bolt  them  or  lop  off  the  tops  as  in  photo 
90.  In  some  situations  it  is  well  to  do  both.  In  photo  90  the  trees  are  so  exposed  that 
the  top  of  one  was  torn  clear  off,  and  others  probably  would  have  been  destroyed  had  not 
the  tops  been  shortened.  In  this  operation  great  care  should  be  taken  to  paint  the 
wounds,  as  it  is  difficult  to  get  to  them  again.  It  is  a  very  tedious  piece  of  work  to  per- 
form. Light  ladders  had  to  be  fastened  with  strong  ropes  to  the  main  branches  to  get 
19 


Photo  28. 


Photo  29. 


up  to  the  work,  and  the  tops  were  let  down  with  a  light  pulley,  so  as  not  to  demolish  the 
fence.  Photo  48  illustrates  a  case  of  temporary  salvation.  Just  over  the  girl's  head  a 
piece  of  paper  is  laid  into  a  crevice.  The  large  branch  toward  the  house,  and  constitut- 
ing about  one-fourth  of  the  tree,  was  rent  in  a  heavy  gale  the  whole  length  of  the  trunk 
and  laid  on  the  ground.  A  strong  double-block  rope  and  tackle  were  procured,  and 
with  a  team  of  horses  the  limb  was  drawn  back  into  its  place.  .  In  order  to  hold  it  there 
a  strong  chain  was  placed  around  the  main  branches  and  guards  of  double  thickness  of 


galvanized  iron  were  put  between  the  limbs  and  chain.  The  tree  is  practically  ruined, 
though  it  may  last  thirty  or  forty  years,  if  the  guards  are  changed  and  new  chains  supplied. 

Thus  far  I  have  been  showing  you  how  to  prevent  the  crotch  from  splitting.  The 
better  way,  however,  is  to  prevent  the  formation  of  the  fork.  This  you  can  do  in  young 
trees.  In  photo  50  you  have  a  case  which  was  one  of  the  worst  kind.  There  was  a  very 
bad  fork  at  the  upper  cross  line  and  another  at  the  lower  one.  The  remedy  was  to  cut 
everything  clean  off,  making  a  bean-pole  of  the  stem.  It  shocked  the  owner,  but  he  has 
long  since  recovered  and  is  delighted  with  the  strong  lateral  branches  which  the  wind 
might  possibly  break  off,  but  it  cannot  split  them  off.  Photo  49  is  the  same  tree 
in  foliage.  It  would  be  an  improvement  if  all  branches  were  cut  off  below  the  bottom  line. 
ONE  GREAT  EVIL. 

Now,  put  away  everything  else  out  of  your  thoughts  and  consider  this  one  fact  alone 
till  it  be  indelibly  fixed  in  your  mind,  namely:  The  roots  of  every  tree  are  proportional 
in  extent  to  the  branches.  We  commence  this  series  of  lessons  with  photo  52.  This  is  a 
21 


Photo  33. 

small  elm.  Go  from  this  to  photos  53  and 
54.  This  is  a  maple,  started  on  its  fifth 
year's  growth.  The  middle  part  of  the  stem 
is  cut  out  so  that  both  root  and  branch  can 
be  shown  on  one  page.  The  size  of  this  plant 
you  can  see  as  compared  with  the  bo3T's  hand. 
The  stem  is  not  much  larger  than  his  thumb. 
Look  closely  at  both  pictures.  If  the  leaves 
were  off,  the  root  would  appear  as  large,  if 
not  larger,  than  the  top. 

Now  turn  to  that  majestic  maple,  photo 
3:.  Imagine  some  gigantic  hand  lifting  this 
tree  out  of  the  ground  and  plunging  it  into 
some  lake  and  washing  off  all  the  soil  and 
then  holding  it  up  to  view;  and  suppose  the 
leaves  were  all  off,  what  would  you  see?  You 
would  see  this,  viz. :  The  rools,  when  aver- 
aged up,  cover  as  mttch  surface  as  the 
branches.  If  the  tree  could  be  lifted  during 
its  working  season,  you  would  see,  probably, 
from  five  to  ten  times  as  many  of  those  deli- 
cate little  fibrous,  feeding  rootlets  as  you 
have  twigs.  And  where  are  these  feeders 
situated  ?  At  the  extreme  end  of  the  other 
Photo  34'  little  roots.  Now,  what  do  we  learn  from 

this  fact.  Simply  this,  namely:  If  these  feeders  are  not  taken  up  when  you  lift  the  plant, 
such  a  plant  will  suffer  in  proportion  to  the  roots  you  have  destroyed.  Large  trees  can 
be  moved  and  it  is  often  done.  Trees  with  trunks  4  feet  in  diameter  have  been  taken  up 
and  replanted  with  success,  but  it  takes  powerful  machinery  to  do  it.  The  average  per- 
son desiring  a  tree  would  want  to  pay  not  more  than  a  few  dollars.  Suppose  you  wanted 
to  move  the  maple  in  photo  49.  The  base  of  that  tree  is  about  8  inches  in  diameter.  The 
diameter  of  the  top  is  from  12  to  15  feet.  Then  you  must  go  at  least  6  feet  from  the  tree 
to  get  your  feeding  roots.  This  can  be  done,  but  a  clump  of  earth  12  feet  in  diameter 


and  from  2  to  3  feet 
deep  is  not  easily  ban- 
died, and  not  one  out 
of  a  thousand  would 
attempt  such  a  task. 
The  usual  way  is  to 
"grub"  them  out, 
somethinglike  the  tree 
lying  on  the  ground  in 
photo  51,  and  though 
they  take  great  pains 
with  the  planting, they 
very  often  have  the 
trouble  of  pullingthem 
out  in  a  condition  like 
that  which  the  gentle- 
man is  holding  up  for 
inspection.  If  the 

feeding-roots  are  not  preserved  there  is  but  one 
thing  to  do,  and  that  is  cut  0$~the  top  in  the  same 
proportion  that  you  have  destroyed  the  rootlets. 
Then  you  have  injured  the  breathing  and  circulat- 
ing power  of  the  plant  to  the  extent  of  the  removal 
of  its  foliage.  This  is  followed  by  a  cessation  of 
heart  growth.  Photo  55  exhibits  this  fact.  This  is 
a  section  of  a  tree  about  12  inches  in  diameter. 
Death  set  in  at  the  center,  at  the  dark  spot  where 
the  finger  is  pointing.  This  tree,  like  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  others,  had  not  foliage  nor  rootlets  enough 
to  supply  even  the  trunk  with  moisture.  The  result 
was,  the  sun  dried  the  bark  up  and  it  peeled  off. 
This  usually  happens  on  the  south  side,  or  a  little 
west  of  that,  where  the  sun  strikes  it  the  hottest 
part  of  the  day.  Some  very  wise  gentlemen  will 
tell  you,  "the  person  who  planted  that  tree  should 
have  marked  it  before  he  took  it  up.  This  (wounded 
part)  is  the  side  that  formerly  faced  the  north,  and 
it  should  have  been 
planted  that  way, ' '  etc. 
All  there  was  of  it  is, 
the  plant  had  been  ren- 
dered unable  to  sup- 
ply moisture  and  the 
bark  was  destroyed. 
The  action  of  hard 
freezing  after  a  very 
warm  spell  sometimes 
has  a  similar  effect.  In 
the  latter  case  the  bark 
is  ruptured,  torn  loose; 
in  the  former  dried  up\ 
in  both  cases  it  is 
killed.  Now  look  at 
photo  58.  The  person 


Photo  38. 


examining  this  maple  is  Mr. 
John  Paxton,  the  young, 
wide-awake  and  energetic 
editor  of  the  Kent  Courier. 
This  gentleman  is  much  in- 
terested in  good  trees  and 
fine  floral  displays.  See  from 
his  right  hand  clear  down  to 
the  ground  how  the  bark  has 
been  destroyed.  Though  na- 
ture is  making  most  vigorous 
efforts  to  heal  this  over,  yet 
the  tree  is  utterly  worthless 
and  should  be  pulled  out,  for 
if  it  does  remain  and  heal 
over  it  will  be  hollow,  and 
will  be  blown  down  and  pos- 
sibly do  damage.  Take  out 
all  such  trees  and  replace 
with  small,  healthy  ones. 

I  have  asserted  that  when 
the  roots  are  thus  destroyed 
it  results  in  a  dead  center. 
This  usually  affects  the 
branches  in  a  similar  manner 
as  do  the  wounds  from  the  "tree- 
butcher."  The  rot  is  carried  away 
up  into  the  branches.  See  this  ex- 
hibited in  photos  56  and  57.  One 
can  generally  pick  out  such  trees 
by  the  dead  twigs  interspersed  in 
the  top.  Sometimes  a  tree  may  be 
planted  in  a  very  favorable  situa- 
tion and  will  do  so  well  that  there 
is  no  particular  trace  of  the  injury 
in  the  twigs.  Photo  59  is  a  case  of 
this  kind,  but  in  photo  60  you  have 
what  you  can  discover  on  close  in- 
spection. Such  a  tree,  I  say,  is  not 
safe,  for  it  is  liable  to  succumb  to 
the  force  of  a  violent  storm. 

In  photo  6 1  you  have  an  ex- 
ample. The  smaller  tree  to  the 
left  was  quite  large  when  planted. 
I  think  the  gentleman  paid  $3  for 
it.  As  usual  a  dead  center  set  in ; 
the  bark  dried  up  toward  the  hot 
sun  and  peeled  off  (between  the  two 
crosses).  The  bark  will  dry  up  on 
any  side  of  the  tree  that  is  exposed 
to  the  hottest  sun.  It  may  be  east,  west  or  south,  but  generally  south.  The  tree  is  now 
doing  fairly  well  and  may  make  a  large  one,  but  it  is  hollow  and  will  be  a  constant 
menace  to  the  occupants  of  that  house,  for,,being  hollow,  it  may  go  crashing  into  the 
house  with  any  severe  storm. 


Photo  40. 


YOUR  SPECIAL  ATTENTION 
is  called  again  to  photo  61.  To  the  right 
you  see  a  large  tree.  We  have  been  talk- 
ing of  the  one  to  the  left,  which  was 
planted  in  1885.  We  have  said  this  tree 
was  large  and  cost  in  proportion  to  its 
size.  The  other,  to  the  right,  was  a  little 
switch  which  the  man  had  pulled  up  and 
thrown  into  his  wagon.  He  gave  it  to  the 
property-owner,  who,  out  of  curiosity, 
stuck  it  in  where  you  see  it.  It  started 
to  grow,  and  it  grew!  and  grew! 7  and 
grew! ! !  and  is  growing  so  fast  that  it 
seems  they  must  move  the  house  back  or 
cut  away  a  part  of  the  tree. 

Here,  then,  is  the  all-important  point. 
Why  did  this  plant  thrive  so  well?  For 
the  simple  reason  that  its  feeding  roots 
were  not  destroyed,  and  there  was  no 
large  trunk  there  to  become  exhausted. 
If  you  go  to  the  woods  for  a  shade  tree, 
by  all  means  select  something  that  you 
can  pull  up  with  your  hands,  instead  of 


one  that  would  fill 

a  one-horse  wagon. 

With  the  small  tree 

in    ten    years    you 

will   be   five   years 

ahead  of  the  large 

one,  and  (the  small 

one ) ,  being  perfect- 
ly health}-,  will  gain 

yearly   over    the 

large    one    in    the 

same  proportion  as 

it  has  started. 

Almost  every- 
one ordering  nur- 
sery stock  has  a 

mania   for    getting 

big  trees,  and  are 

angry  if  large  ones 

are    not    delivered 

to  them.     This  is  a 

serious  mistake.   It 

is  better  for  you  to 

pay  one  dollar  for 

a    tree    two    years  Photo  44> 

old  than  to  have  a  six-year-old  as  a  gift.  There  is  a  great  advantage  in  procuring  trees 
from  a  good  nursery,  as  nursery  stock  is  transplanted  from  the  seed-beds  and,  therefore, 
have  more  feeders.  But,  by  all  means,  take  a  small  plant;  in  shade  trees  not  more  than 

an  inch  in  diameter  at  the  base,  and  in 
fruit  trees  not  more  than  half  that  size.  I 
repeat,  it  is  better  for  you  to  pay  more  for 
a  small  plant. 

THE  SECOND  GREAT  EVIL. 

Following  the  one  great  mistake  of 
planting  too  large  a  tree,  resulting  in  dead 
center,  as  we  have  shown,  comes  the  al- 
most universal  blunder  of  forming  the 
head  too  low.  Nurserymen  are,  in  part, 
to  blame  for  this  misleading  step.  It  is 
taken  for  granted  that  the  average  nursery 
firm  know  their  business.  Photo  62  pre- 
sents to  you  a  cherry  tree  as  the  head  was 
formed  when  it  came  from  the  nursery, 
and  you  have  but  to  stop  and  think  for  a 
moment  to  recall  the  fact  that  most  all 
trees  come  in  a  similar  form.  While 
growing  in  the  nursery  the  leader  was  cut 
off  where  the  short  cross-line  indicates. 

Last  spring  (1901)  two  of  my  ac- 
quaintances ordered  at  the  same  time, 
from  the  same  firm,  and  the  trees  came 
together.  There  was  no  noticeable  differ- 
ence; cherries,  apples,  pears  and  all  had 


Photo  48. 

their  heads  formed  about  the  same  height. 
One  of  the  gentlemen  was  a  very  indus- 
trious man.  He  set  his  own  trees  and  did 
it  carefully,  but  the  tops  were  too  heavy 
for  what  roots  remained.  All  of  the  trees 
but  two  died.  Photo  62  is  one  of  the  dead 
ones  taken  on  August  igth.  The  other 
neighbor,  not  having  confidence  in  him- 
self, prevailed  on  us  to  set  his  trees.  All 
the  lateral  (or  side)  branches  were  taken 
off,  preserving  nothing  but  the  leader. 
The%-  all  grew  finely.  Photo  63  is  one  of 

the  batch,  an  apple.  The  head  had  been  formed  in  the  nursery;  it  consisted  of  the 
leader,  which  is  preserved,  and  four  laterals.  The  four  latter,  at  the  lower  cross-line, 
were  taken  off  and  all  the  force  of  the  root  was  thrown  into  the  remaining  leader,  result- 
ing in  a  new  growth  of  over  2  feet,  starting  from  the  terminal  bud,  which  was  situated 
where  the  long  cross-line  is  drawn.  At  that  point  there  are  several  healthy  young  shoots 
ready  to  start  into  activity  with  the  opening  spring.  These  will  be  all  rubbed  off  and 
the  head  will  be  formed  just  where  you  see  the  bunch  of  leaves  at  the  top.  No  cutting 
will  be  done  for  one  year;  then  the  leader  will  be  cut  out  at  the  point  which  is  now  the 
top.  We  will  thus  start  with  the  head  of  the  tree  formed  about  7  feet  from  the  ground. 
27 


Adding  to  this  the  elongating  growth  of  the 
stem,  you  will  have  an  apple  tree  with  the  head 
8  feet  or  more  in  height.  I  repeat  that  the  prin- 
cipal blame  for  this  misguidance  is  attributable 
to  the  nurserymen.  They  never  should  form 
the  head  of  the  cherry,  apple  or  pear.  Neither 
do  I  see  any  reason  why  they  should  that  of  the 
peach  or  plum.  They  have  no  possible  means 
of  knowing  who  will  purchase  the  stock,  or  in 
what  situation  the  tree  will  be  placed,  or  what 
height  the  head  will  be  needed.  It  is  true  that 
in  some  localities  in  the  west,  and,  indeed,  in 
various  situations  throughout  the  land,  where 
strong  winds  prevail,  people  will  occasionally 
form  the  heads  of  a  whole  orchard  of  trees  low, 
so  that  the  fruit  will  not  be  violently  shaken 
from  the  trees.  But,  admitting  this  fact,  the 
man  who  plants  thus  should  be  able  to  get 
straight,  young  trees,  and  then  clip  the  tops 


wherever  he  chooses.     It  is  self-evident  that  the  nurseries  never  have  purposely  made 
this  blunder.     It  is  an  oversight,  and  it  has  taken  time  to  develop  the  error. 

The  way  to  get  small  trees  is,  let  the  people  demand  them.  Of  course,  there  will  be 
small,  lateral  branches;  these  you  can  remove  after  planting.  If  you  desire  to  use  your 
trees  for  wind-breaks,  or  to  hide  some  unsightly  objects,  or  for  shade  in  the  chicken  yard, 
etc.,  etc.,  all  there  is  of  it  is  one  slash  with  the  pruning  knife  and  nature  will  obey  your 
mandates.  In  discussing  this  question,  there  is  one  thing  above  all  others  that  I  desire 
to  impress  upon  you,  viz. :  When  you  plant  a  shade  tree  form  the  top  the  desired  height 
and  then  keep  hands  off!  Leave  nature  alone,  with  the  exception  of  cutting  out  interfer- 
ing branches,  or  clipping  the  ends  of  drooping  ones;  or,  possibly,  when  the  tree  is  young, 
shortening  the  leader  to  make  the  head  more  bushy.  By  interfering  branches  we 
mean  those  that  cross  each  other.  An  example  is  given  in 
photo  64.  By  the  constant  friction  with  the  wind  they  cut 
through  the  bark  and  grind  one  into  the  other.  Decay  is  the 
result,  and  it  runs  up  into  the  smaller  branches  as  shown  in 
the  photo.  Remove  all  such.  There  is  also  a  constant  ten- 
dency for  the  lower  limbs  to  droop  by  the  weight  of  the  foli- 
age, rain,  snow,  etc.  With  some  kinds  of  oaks,  elms  and 
maples,  if  you  were  to  form  the  top  15  feet  high,  in  time  the 
tips  of  the  lower  branches  would  touch  the  ground. 

In  planting  shade  trees,  unless  you  desire  to  shut  off  the 
view  of  some  undesirable  objects,  form  the  top  from  12  to  15 
feet  high.  This  is  very  easily  done  if  you  plant  a  small  tree. 
Photo  65  shows  you  that  the  lady  can  take  charge  of  such 
fascinating  work.  That  tree  was  set  two  years  ago,  and  the 
top  clipped  off.  Now  the  lady  bends  it  down  and  clips  the 
tops  of  the  half  dozen  vigorous  young  shoots  that  have  started. 
This  makes  the  head  more  bushy.  The  tree  is  no  larger  than 
a  common  broom  handle,  and  the  stem  is  about  14  feet  long. 
Photo  66  presents  to  you  an  early  Richmond  cherry  tree. 
It  is  very  healthy  and  has  a  nicely-formed  top.  The  head  is 
strong  and  formed  about  7  feet  from  the  ground.  Photo  67  is 
a  maple  with  the  lower  branches  about  8  feet  from  the  ground. 


Photo  53. 


It  would  be  well  to  form 
apple  orchards  nearly  or 
quite  that  height. 

W.  I.  Chamberlin, 
editor  of  The  Ohio  Farmer, 
is  a  wise  man.  He  has  a 
large  orchard,  the  heads  of 
whose  trees  are  formed  in 
this  way.  Photo  68  gives 
you  a  partial  view  of  said 
orchard  with  Mr.  Chamberlin  under  a  bending  limb  of  apples,  which  hardly  reaches 
his  head.  He  plows  and  cultivates  right  under  the  trees.  This  photo  was  taken  about 
the  middle  of  August.  In  a  drive  of  some  twenty  miles  that  day,  all  other  orchards  were 
about  alike.  They  looked  dried,  famished  and  root-bound,  with  here  and  there  a  few 
gnarly  apples.  But  Mr.  Chamberlin 's  had 
been  plowed  and  sowed  to  Hungarian  grass, 
which  he  said  he  would  cut  and  put  under 
the  trees  to  prevent  the  bruising  of  the  fruit 


Photo  5^ 


Photo  56. 


and    to    mulch 

the   roots    and 

feed    the    trees. 

Wise     man  !     I 

hear    h  e    made 

some      $2,000 

from   his    crop. 

He  told  me  he 

had    "sprayed" 

twice,  and  it  is 

certain   that   I 

never     saw    a 

firmer,  healthier 

growth  of  wood 

than  the  whole 

orchard     pre- 
sented  right  in 

the    month    of 

August,  a  strong 

argument     in 

favor  of.  cultivat- 
ing. 

Some  say  that   they  would   prefer  fruit  trees  to  the 
maple,  elm,  etc.,  for  shade.     Well,    if  that  is  your  choice 
you  could  have  your  wishes  gratified.     Photo  69  shows  you 
what  "might  have  been"  in  the  way  of  a  shade  tree.     This 
is  one  of  the   well-known   Baldwin  apple  trees.     Look  at 
its  powerfvil  arms.    It  is  over  60  feet  in  diameter  of  branches.    Suppose  the  head  had  been 
started  up  at  the  second  tier  of  limbs,  instead  of  down  low,  and  suppose  that  no  "  tree- 
butcher  ' '  had  as- 
sailed  it,  as   you 
see    they     have, 
what   a  magnifi- 
cent    sight     it 
wouldbe,and  how 
pleasant  thirty  or 
forty  bushels    of 
nice     Baldwins 
would  look  in  the 
cellar!     Photo  70 
shows  you  a  nice 
young  maple  with 
the  head   formed 
about  1 2  feet  from 
the  ground  Photo 
71   gives    us    the 
wise  and  unwise 
methods  of  plant- 
ing for  shade.   In 
this    picture   you 
will    notice  two 
houses  to  the  left, 
upon  which    the 
flitting     shadows  Photo  61. 


Photo  60. 


of  the  overhanging  trees  are  playing.  These  trees 
are  hickories  and  oaks.  They  are  the  second  growth 
of  the  native  forest.  You  notice  they  are  free 
from  branches  to  the  height  of  the  eaves  of  the 
houses.  In  the  heat  of  summer  it  is  always  cool 
under  them,  and,  the  light  and  air  not  being  ob- 
structed, there  is  a  strong,  heavy  sod  on  the  lawns. 
To  the  right  is  a  new  house  and  no  trees  in  front, 

except  the  one  that  the  gentleman  has  his  hand  on.  This  plant  came  from  the  nursery, 
and  the  head  was  formed  less  than  6  feet  from  the  ground.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  are  dis- 
cussing what  is  best  to  do  with  such  a  tree.  It  is  a  healthy  plant,  but  there  is  no  leader. 
The  proper  thing  to  do  is,  take  it  up  and  set  it  somewhere  else  and  put  another  here,  and 
form  the  top  at  least  as  high  as  the  eaves  of  the  porch. 

Does  the  stress  that  I  put  on  forming  the  head  so  high  seem  too  strong?  Well,  how 
many  are  there  who  desire  to  have  their  front  or  side  view  shut  off  ?  You  may  find  one 
in  ten  thousand  with  that  queer  notion,  but  most  people  like  to  "  see  out,"  and  if  you 
have  a  good  house  others  like  to  "  see  in." 


Photo  67. 


A  FEW  EXAMPLES 
will  now  be  presented  which  will 
exemplify  the  folly  of  forming 
the  head  of  the  tree  too  low. 
Photo  73  shows  you  what  is 
commonly  called  a  "  buckeye." 
This  is  not  the  buckeye  proper 
(that  is  a  native  of  America),  but  the  English  horse-chestnut.  This  tree  stands  directly 
in  front  of  a  very  nice  house  on  the  most  prominent  street  of  the  town.  Who  wants  the 
view  intercepted  in  this  way?  What  shall  be  done  with  it?  Put  the  "tree-butcher"  at  it? 
No  !  For  what  he  does  not  cut  off  he  will  kill  !  It  was  a  wrong  place  to  plant  it,  but  if 
the  owner  insisted  on  it,  the  formation  of  the  top  should  have  been  where  the  line  is  run 
across.  The  tree  then  would  have  been  majestic.  Now,  probably,  it  will  be  taken  out. 
Painful  to  think  of  it,  for  it  is  one  of  the  healthiest  trees  that  ever  grew. 

We  call  your  attention  again  to  the  larger  tree  in  photo  61.  There  is  an  excellent, 
up-to-date  house  back  of  it.  In  the  first  place,  this  tree  is  too  close  to  the  house,  but  if 
it  had  to  go  there  the  head  should  have  been  formed  not  lower  than  the  cross  line.  Photo 
72  also  teaches  a  strong  lesson.  This  is  a  very  prominent  street.  You  see  a  row  of  very 
healthy  young  maples;  the  tops  are  very  symmetrical.  These  trees  were  planted  in  1884. 
There  are  three  of  the  handsomest  houses  in  the  village  hidden  behind  them.  This 


Photo  69. 

obstruction  of  view  won't  be  long  tolerated;  the  "tree-butcher"  will  probably  be  put  to 
work.  Then  could  those  trees  but  speak!  How  deplorable  to  have  such  beauties  cut  to 
pieces!  Had  those  heads  been  formed  where  the  line  indicates,  the  view,  both  from 
within  and  without,  would  have  been  all  that  could  be  desired. 

In  photo  74  you  have  glimpses  of  some  very  healthy  maples  in  front,  of  the  beautiful 
M.  K.  Church  in  the  city  of  Kent,  Ohio.  Photo  75  shows  you  the  same  after  being 
pruned.  There  is  a  row  of  these  clear  up  the  hill,  but  the  tops  were  so  low  that  they 

interfered  with  umbrellas  and  prevented 
seeing  more  than  half  way  up  or  down 
the  hill.  Now  the  view  is  fine,  as  you 
will  see  by  photo  76.  Photo  77  presents 
a  most  charming  sight.  It  is  a  row  of 
maples  planted  some  fifty  years  ago. 
They  are  east  of  the  city  of  Kent.  Un- 
fortunately, as  in  most  all  cases,  they 
were  not  started  high  enough.  The 
branches  drag  on  buggy  tops  and  other 
vehicles.  Unless  great  caution  be  taken 
the  "tree-butcher"  will  put  in  some  of 
his  destructive  work  on  them.  What 
grandeur  there  is  in  perfect  trees,  and 
how  much  they  enhance  the  value  of 
real  estate.  Take  by  way  of  contrast  with 
the  foregoing  picture,  the  one  numbered 
78.  Here  you  have  little  trees,  big  trees, 
live  trees,  dead  tree,  etc.,  disproving  the 
assertion  that  "variety  is  the  spice  of 
life;"  at  any  rate,  it  is  not  in  this  case. 

Photo  70. 


For  the  last   few   years   there 
has  been  a  great  rage  on  the  Caro- 
lina   poplar.     They   are    immense 
growers,  especially  where  they  can 
get  to  moisture.   You  can  see  what 
a  rapid  growth  they  make  by  look- 
ing at  photo  79.     They  were  quite 
small  trees  when  planted,  and  what 
you  see  is  the  work  of  only  three 
years.     These,  also,  came  with  the 
leaders  cut  out  and  heads  started 
not  more  than  4  feet  high.     (You 
see  they  already  shut  off  all  view.  ) 
By  glancing  at  photo  So,  you  can 
learn  how  these  were  pruned.     A 
ladder  was  stood  up  straight  beside  the 
tree   and   held   firmly  while  the  operator 
took  out  the  tops.    Then  the  side  branches 
were  taken  away  and  the  wounds  carefully 
painted.     Photo  Si  presents  to  you  a  fine 
row  of  these  rapid-growing  trees,  but  they 
are   close   by  a  drain,  to   which   they  are 
destructive.    Photo  82  shows  you  how  they 
will   get  between   the  joints  of  tiles  and 
grow  and  flatten  out  there,  and  photo  83. 
exhibits  the  fine  roots  as  pulled  out  after 
two  years'   growth.     They  will  not  only 
obstruct  drainage,  but  completely  fill  the 


Photo  74. 

tile.  None  of  the  poplars  are  long-lived. 
The  "Lombards"  are  pretty,  but  soon  get 
ragged  or  dead  tops,  as  shown  in  photo  84.  Photo  7S- 

You  frequently  run  across  one-sided  trees,  which,  to  the  average  person,  would  be  a 
puzzle  as  to  how  to  prune  them.  Photo  85  shows  you  one  of  them,  and  86  teaches  how  it 
has  been  doctored.  Notice  all  the  lower  branches  are  taken  off  and  all  but  the  small  one 
in  the  upper  part.  The  head  is  now  formed  above  the  eaves  of  the  house.  This  tree  is 
treated  substantially  like  that  in  photo  87  should  be.  One  grew  out  of  shape  by  the  force 
of  the  wind;  the  other  by  having  a  larger  tree  close  by.  In  photo  87  all  comes  off  to  the 
left  of  the  vertical  line,  and  all  under  the  cross  line.  This  leads  us  to  consider  the  matter 
of  too  close  planting.  Photo  88  gives  you  an  excellent  example.  This  is  a  row  of  fine 
rock  maples.  The  heads  were  started  at  a  fairly  good  height,  but  they  were  set  less  than 
20  feet  apart.  Planted  close,  their  branches  interlocked,  and  if  a  hurricane  comes  that 
•way  it  is  apt  to  plow  its  way  clear  through  them,  which  is  what  happened  with  these.  A 

mild  cyclone  came  along  and 
tore  the  top  of  the  seventh  tree 
clear  off  and  threw  it  upon  the 
house,  and  took  the  greater  part 
of  the  one  on  both  sides,  as 
shown  in  photo  89.  In  thejmth 
of  the  same  storm  were  single 
trees  that  bent,  and  twisted,  and 
swayed  every  way  and  were  not 
hurt  in  the  least.  How  grand  is 
a  tree  that  stands  out  bold  and 
symmetrical  and  clear  from  all 
others  !  Why  do  people  persist 
in  planting  so  many  trees?  Why 
not  have  less  of  them  and  per- 
fect ones  ? 

TO   SUM  UP  ALL, 
you  have  this,  namely:     First, 
plant  small  trees;  and  second, 
plant  far  enough  apart ;  third, 
form  the  tops  high. 

There  is  a  pruning  imple- 
ment that  is  not  generally 
known,  or  its  value  is  not  appre- 
ciated. It  is  shown  in  photo 
93.  It  is  Water's  Improved 
Pruner.  Of  all  the  implements 
used  in  preserving  the  form  of 


shade  trees,  nothing  is 
so  serviceable  as  this 
simple,  but  effective 
little  tool.  It  should 
be  placed  on  the  mar- 
ket by  the  hundreds  of 
thousands. 

As  I  have  said,  the 
tendency  of  our  best 
shade  trees  is  for  their 
lower  branches  to 
droop  and  obstruct 
view  or  interfere  with 
passage.  When  you 
have  once  formed  the 
head  the  desired 
height,  then,  with  this 
pruner,  you  clip  off 
the  ends  that  would 
otherwise  droop  and 
be  in  the  way.  This  implement  has  a  double  leverage,  one  at  the  upper  end,  as  you  see 
in  photo  93,  which  shows  the  blade  and  a  strong  steel  wire  running  down  a  light  but 
strong  staff.  This  handle,  or  staff ,  is  made  10,  12, 14  and  16  feet  long.  Photo  91  presents 
the  leverage  at  the  lower  end  of  the  staff.  With  this  pruner  you  can  easily  cut  a  branch 
i  inch  in  diameter.  Photo  92  gives  you  a  view  of  a  gentleman  putting  one  of  these  tools 
to  a  good  use.  This  is  Mr.  Minich,  editor  of  the  Kent  Bulletin.  He  is  a  great  lover  of 
nature  and  almost  a  worshipper  of  fine  trees.  I  have  taken  pains  to  speak  of  the  editors 
because,  on  account  of  their  publishing  things  at  times,  which  in  the  opinion  of  all  is 
not  prudent,  they  have  a  great  amount  of  abuse  heaped  upon  them,  and  scarcely  any 
credit  given  for  the  almost  infinite  good  they  do.  The  press  is  the  power  of  the  age. 
The  man  who  drives  the  quill  is  shaping  the  destiny  of  the  nation  !  It  is  largely  within 
the  power  of  the  press  to  remedy  this  dire  calamity  that  has  befallen  our  fruit  and  shade 
trees.  Write  for  the  papers,  present  your  views,  argue  your  case,  and  don't  forget  to 
pay  your  subscription. 

There  is  another  pruner  that  should  be  brought  into  general  use.     It  is  shown  in 
photo  94.     This  is  the  kind  that  is  used  in  England.     It  is,  in  reality,  a  large  chisel  with 

a  hook  welded  on  it.  The  hook, 
also,  has  a  sharp  edge.  In  England 
hundreds  of  years  have  taught  the 
lessons  of  forming  the  heads  of  the 
apple  tree  up  out  of  the  ivay.  The 
trees  are  pruned,  commonly,  once 
in  two  years.  That  being  the  case, 
this  pruner  is  about  all  the  tool 
that  is  needed.  These  pruners  are 
made  of  various  sizes  and  each  one 
has  a  staff  (commonly  of  ash),  and 
it  may  be  anywhere  from  10  to  16 
feet  in  length.  With  the  pruner 
goes  a  heavy  mallet.  You  place 
the  chisel  up  under  at  the  shoulder; 
a  few  sharp  taps  on  the  lower  end 
of  the  staff  and  the  branch  is  off. 
With  the  hook  you  pull  it  down.  A 


Photo  78. 


quick  shove  with  the 
hands  will  usually  take 
off  a  branch  an  inch 
thick.  Water-sprouts 
are  removed  by  this 
with  great  speed.  You 
cau  strike  upward  with 
the  chisel  or  dowmvard 
with  the  hook.  If  the 
factories  do  not  put 
these  on  the  market,  get 
your  smith  to  forge  one. 
In  apple  trees  that  are 
properly  cared  for  there 
is  scarcely  anything  to 
be  removed  but  small 
branches  that  cross  or 
interfere.  Always  pre- 
serve the  "fruit  spurs." 
Some  of  the  finest  fruit 
grows  under  the  foliage. 
Look  at  photo  95.  It  is 
certain  that  it  was  not 
Baalam's  ass  that  performed  that  trimming,  but  it  would  be  interesting  to  get  the  meas- 
urement of  the  ears  of  the  "tree-butcher"  who  cut  off  all  the  fruit  spurs,  resulting  in  that 
growth  of  water-sprouts. 

Fruit  or  shade  trees  may  have  their  heads  entirely  changed  when  they  are  young  if 
there  be  a  good,  strong  leader.  Photo  96  is  an  example  of  how  it  can  be  done.  This 
tree  had  the  top  formed  too  low,  and  would  have  shut  off  all  view  in  a  certain  direction 
from  a  door  and  a  window.  Three-fourths  of  the  branches  have  been  removed.  The 
trunk  can  now  be  straightened.  This  can  be  done  by  running  a  sharp  knife  down 
through  the  bark  in  the  inside  of  the  crooked  portions.  This  releases  the  tension  and  in 
time  will  draw  the  stem  upright.  One  of  the  crookedest  (young)  trees  that  I  ever  saw  is 
now  perfectly  straight.  Cherry  trees  have  a  very  tough  bark,  and  it  is  well  to  run  the 
knife  clear  down  from  the  head  to  the  base,  two  or  three  places,  every  year.  When  they 

are  in  bloom  is  a  good  time. 
It  will  be  helpful  to  the  pear 
also. 

But  little  pruning  is 
needed  on  the  plum,  cherry, 
peach  and  pear,  more  than 
keeping  out  the  interfering 
branches  and  directing  the 
growth  of  the  top.  By  "direct- 
ing the  growth"  I  mean  it  is 
within  your  power  to  form  the 
head  of  a  tree  almost  any  way 
you  desire.  I  will  suppose  you 
are  standing  looking  at  young 
trees,  and  at  your  left  there  is 
a  gap  or  open  space  in  the  top. 
You  desire  to  fill  that  out. 
You  select  a  good  branch  close 
to  this  opening,  and  then 


Photo  82. 

fool  time  away  trying  to  grow  apples  in 
those  level,  clay  counties,  unless  you  select 
some  elevated  place 
or  specially  prepare 
the  orchard  on  the 
level  portions.  The 
preparations  would 
consist  in  plowing, 
sub-soiling,  manur- 
ing well,  and  then 
"  back-  furrow," 
setting  the  trees  on 
the  highest  part. 
Where  the  "dead- 
furrows"  come,  put 
in  underdrains,  us- 
ing 3  or  4  inch  tile. 
(The  socket  tile  is 
the  best.)  Of 
course,  to  drain 
Photo  83. 


choose  a  bud  on  the  side  toward  that  open- 
ing. You  cut,  say,  about  an  eighth  of  an 
inch  above  that  bud  with  a  slanting,  draw 
cut.  You  will  be  surprised  to  see  how 
such  an  opening  will  fill  in. 

NOW  FOR  PLANTING. 
Before  you  can  prune  or  train  a  tree 
you  must  have  one,  and  before  planting 
we  should  know  something  about  the 
soil.  The  grape  vine,  raspberries,  black- 
berries and  some  strawberries  do  well 
in  light,  porous  soil.  The  apple  grows  well 
on  light  soil,  but  is  apt  to  throw  its  fruit  in 
hot  weather  for  the  want  of  moisture.  The 
apple  will  do  well  on  rich,  gravely  land 
with  a  firm  sub-soil,  but  the  best  fruit  often 
comes  from  trees  planted  in  a  good  clay 
loam,  but  it  must  be  well  drained.  The  peach,  plum  and 
cherry  will  generally  thrive  where  the  apple  will.  The 
pear,  however,  must  have  day.  This  is  demonstrated  by 
the  object  lessons  that  you  get  up  in  Wood  and  Fulton 
Counties,  Ohio,  and  away  down  the  western  part  of  the 
state.  In  Mercer,  Darke,  Miami,  Preble,  Montgomery  and 
other  counties  where  the  land  is  level,  with  dense  clay  sub- 
soils, the  pear  does  well,  but  apples  are  stunted  and  sickly 
and  some  places  look  like  a  lot  of  old  stub  brooms.  Photo 
97  shows  one  of  the  best  grown  on  this  low,  wet,  heavy 
clay  soil.  Any  place,  however,  in  those  counties,  if  you 
come  to  a  knoll  or  little  hill,  you  will  find  the  apple  trees 
having  the  vigorous,  healthy  appearance  as  seen  in  photo 
98.  It  is  use- 
less to  waste 
money  and 


Photo  84. 


well,  you  must  have  a  good  outlet. 
I  am  convinced  that  a  great  mis- 
take has  been  made  in  planting 
too  many  trees.  If  the  average 
farmer  would  plant  ten  trees  instead 
of  one  hundred,  taking  care  to  set 
the  small  tree,  guard  it  well,  form 
the  top  in  the  proper  place,  prune 
judiciously,  etc.,  he  would  get  ten 
times  more  cash  than  he  does  from 
the  plant-anywhere,  neglect-and- 
starve,  saw-hew-wound-and- 
slaughter  style  that  now  prevails. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  give 
particular  instructions  on  the  man- 
agement of  the  dwarf,  ornamental 
fruit  trees;  how  to  form  the  "pyra- 
midals,"  "cordons,"  "espaliers," 
etc.,  as  there  is  not  one  in  a  thou- 
sand would  adopt  those  forms;  but 
the  preparation  for  these  and  mode 
of  planting  is  the  same  as  for  the 
"standards."  If  you  are  going  to 
plant  an  orchard,  take  time  to  pre- 
pare the  soil.  You  should  take  at 

least  two  years  in  manuring,  plowing  and  sub-soiling. 
On  this  preparation  the  health  of  your  trees  will  largely 
depend.  The  plowing  and  sub-soiling  should  not  be 
less  than  18  inches  deep.  Considerable  lime  and  ashes 
should  be  worked  in.  Supposing  you  are  ready  to  plant 
and  your  stock  has  arrived,  now  proceed.  Measure  off, 
place  a  stake  where  each  plant  is  going  to  be  set.  Ex- 
amine the  roots  of  your  plants.  If  there  are  any  broken 
roots  prune  as  shown  in  photo  99.  Make  a  draw-cut 
from  under.  Roots  are  just  as  susceptible  of  injury  as 
the  branches.  If  you  cut  the  roots  from  under  the 
wound  will  heal.  If  you  make  a  downward  cut  from 
above,  or  a  side  cut,  the  water  soaks  down  on  it  and 
causes  decay.  It  matters  not  whether  it  be  your  little 
Photo  86.  toe  or  little  finger  that  is  injured,  the  whole  body  suffers 

in  proportion  to  the  wound.  Plants  suffer  in  like  man- 
ner. Now  dig  out  the  hole,  say,  4  feet  in  diameter  (I  am  supposing  you  have  small 
trees)  and  18  inches  deep.  Scatter  in  about  2  inches  of  fine  surface  soil.  Proceed  by 
setting  the  plant.  Have  someone  to  hold  it  upright.  Spread  out  the  roots  in  all  direc- 
tions. Fill  in  the  hole  up  to  within  2  inches  of  top  with  good  soil.  Now  pour  in  one  or 
two  pails  of  water;  pass  on  and  set  another  tree,  etc.  When  the  water  has  soaked  away 
fill  up  around  the  tree  and  step  on  it  lightly  to  make  the  earth  firm.  By  using  water 
freely  you  embed  every  little  fibre  and  close  all  air  chambers.  You  should  use  the  tile 
(as  shown  in  photo  100)  as  a  tree  guard.  (This  is  an  apple  tree  and  the  top  should  be 
formed  up  where  the  hand  is  pointing.)  If  you  use  a  stake,  set  it  outside  the  tile.  Put 
a  piece  of  old  carpet  or  cloth  between  the  stake  and  tree  to  prevent  chafing;  and  don't 
fail  to  keep  some  bit  of  cloth  around  the  tree  at  the  upper  end  of  the  tile.  If  you  use  a 
4-inch  tile  it  will  entirely  prevent  mice  and  rabbits  from  girdling  the  tree.  When  your 
tree  is  filling  up  the  tile,  a  few  taps  with  the  hammer  and  your  guard  is  out  of  the  way. 


This  guard  not  only  prevents  the  mice 
and  other  vermin  from  destroying  young 
trees,  but  prevents  the  terrible  havoc  from 
plows,  drags,  whiffletrees,  etc.,  by 
thoughtless  teamsters.  These  instructions 
apply  to  the  planting  of  all  trees,  but  it 
is  supposed  you  have  selected  some  favor- 
able situation  for  your  orchard. 

LOW  LANDS 

are  not  favorable  places  for  fruit  trees. 
On  average  hillsides,  the  higher  the  bet- 
ter. Peaches  should  not  be  planted  on 
land  sloping  to  the  east  or  south.  In  1885 
the  weather  became  warm  in  the  latter 
part  of  February.  By  the  nth  of  March 
peaches  were  in  full  bloom.  By  the  22nd 
of  March  the  mercury  stood  8  below  zero. 
The  blossoms  were  not  only  killed,  but 
the  bark  of  the  trees  ripped  open.  This 
happened  in  the  upper  part  of  Central 
Ohio.  While  there  may  be  some  modifi- 
cations in  the  various  parts  of  so  large  a 
country  as  the  United  States,  yet  it  is  well 
to  plant  with  a  view  of  holding  the  buds 
back  in  the  spring.  In  the  regions  of  the 
great  lakes  the  low  temperature  of  the 
water  will  affect  the  temperature  for  miles 
inland,  and  planting  on  low  lands  has 
been  a  partial  success. 

Take  this  as  a  general  guide,  viz. :  Set 
cherries  on  land  sloping  to  the  east  or 
south;  plums  and  peaches  on  the  hillside 
sloping  to  the  west  or  north,  or  on  a  hill- 
top. To  make  sure  of  success 
with  the  pear,  plant  it  on  land 
slanting  toward  the  north.  Ap- 
ples are  comparatively  safe  in 
any  of  the  foregoing  situations, 
but  cannot  be  relied  upon,  as 
before  stated,  in  low,  cold  or 
wet  lands.  On  sandy  or  gravely 
soil  it  will  pay  you  well  to  help 
your  trees  to  get  a .  start.  To 
accomplish  this,  dig  a  hole  6 
feet  in  diameter  and  3  feet  deep. 
Procure  a  lot  of  sod  and  pitch  it 
into  the  hole  and  tramp  it  down, 
about  half  filling  it  (there  is  no 
better  plant  food  than  rotted 

sods),  then  plant  the  tree  as  before  directed.  Of  course,  in  rich,  deep  soils,  this  is  not 
necessary.  Those  owning  property  on  low  lands  can  hold  their  trees  back  in  spring  if 
they  will  keep  everything  scraped  away  till  the  earth  has  frozen  6  inches  or  more.  Then 
cover  up  with  ashes,  sawdust,  coarse  manure  or  anything  that  will  hold  the  frost. 


Photo  87. 


must  have  particular 
attention.  I  have  just 
said  that  it  should  be 
planted  on  a  northern 
slope.  Indiggingahole 
for  the  pear  go  6  feet 
deep,  and  fill  up  about 
4  feet  with  sods  and 
clay  loam  from  the 
roadside  or  pasture  lot; 
finish  planting  as  with 
other  trees.  "Six  feet 
deep!"  you  exclaim. 
Well,  that  is  what  I 
said,  and  just  what  I 
mean,  when  you  plant 
on  sandj  or  gravel. 
The  pear  is  like  the 
rose,  it  must  have  clay. 
Also,  it  must  have 
depth  of  soil.  When 
your  young  pear  tree 
arrives,  look  at  its 
roots:  vou  will  observe 


Photo  90. 

that  they  run  doiun,  and  that  is  where  you  must 
put  their  food.  "I'll  never  dig  over  2  feet  deep," 
said  one,  and  he  didn't;  but  seven  years  after- 
wards he  had  the  trouble  of  digging  them  all  out.  Nature  is  kind,  but  she  can  be  just 
as  stubborn  as  you  can.  She  is  never  known  to  shirk,  but  she  will  not  do  your  part.  If 
you  dig  deep  in  clay  soil  you  must  provide  an  outlet  for  the  superabundance  of  water  in 
a  wet  time,  for  some  clay  will  hold  water  like  a  pitcher.  This  dead  water  will  destroy 
the  feeding  rootlets.  This  is  one  reason  why  sub-soiling  is  recommended  for  orchards; 
it  not  only  provides  moisture  for  the  plant  in  dry  weather,  but  it  carries  off  all  surplus 
water.  This  leads  us  into  the  consideration  of  blight. 


Photo  93. 
BLIGHT. 

Blight  is  not  in  itself  a  disease,  as  people  are 
in  the  habit  of  supposing.  Many  eminent  authori- 
ties have  erred  concerning  this.  They  have  taken 
the  microscope  and  discovered  countless  numbers 
of  spores,  fungoids  and  infinitesimal  insects  feed- 
ing on  the  dead  foliage  of  the  plant,  and  they  seem 
to  have  hastily  drawn  the  conclusion  that  these 
creatures  have  killed  the  plant. 

The  microscope  does  not  mislead  us;  there  are 
the  spores  and  insects  on  the  dead  leaf.  Aye!  Aye! 
But  what  killed  the  leaf?  Was  it  the  creatures  that 
you  behold  ?  or  was  it  something  else  ?  It  was  not 
these  creatures;  they  had  not  the  power  to  kill  a 
healthy  plant.  Health  defies  all  disease  !  Medi- 
cal science,  I  think,  now  claims  that  there  is  no 

such  thing  as  a  new  disease  ;  that  the  germs  of  disease  are  all  the  while  in  existence.  But 
if  conditions  become  favorable  any  malady  may  make  its  appearance.  Everything  feeds 
on  death.  Maggots  feed  on  putrid  carcases;  toadstools  and  other  fungoid  substances  exist 
on  rotten  vegetation;  we  derive  our  nourishment  from  dead  animals,  dead  vegetables 
and  dead  grain  and  fruit.  Plants  and  trees  are  nourished  by  composts  from  other  vege- 
tation, etc.,  and  the  creatures  seen  on  the  blighted  (dead)  leaf  of  a  plant  have  the  same 
legitimate  right  to  sustain  their  lives  as  we  have.  Again  I  ask, 

WHAT  KILLED  THE  LEAF? 

The  answer  is  one  of  the  simplest,  namely:  Too  much  or  not  enough  water.  On 
page  15  we  call  your  attention  to  the  birth  of  the  mammoth  elm.  What  was  true  of  that 
little  seed  is  true  of  all  seeds  that  develop  into  a  plant  or  tree.  Soak  a  grain  of  wheat  or 
corn,  then  cut  it  open  and  study  it;  or,  better  still,  soak  an  acorn.  When  the  shell  begins 
to  crack,  open  it  up.  There  are  two  lobes  called  the  cotyledons  (seed  leaves).  In  them 
is  stored  up  food  enough  to  nourish  this  little,  unborn  baby  oak.  At  the  bottom  of  these 

lobes  is  attached  a  lump,  some- 
what hard  ;  this  is  called  the 
"radicle. ' '  In  the  center  of  this 
is  a  little  point  called  the  "plum- 
ule." Moisture  and  heat  act 
upon  this  seed  and  it  becomes 
excited  into  life.  The  radicle 
goes  doiun  and  throws  out  very 
minute,  hair-like  rootlets.  At 
the  same  time  the  plumule 
moves  upward  and  carries  the 
seed-leaves  out  to  the  air.  The 


Photo  94. 


plumule  in  the  seed  is  really  the 

41 


Photo  95. 


terminal  bud.  As  this  elongates  it  becomes 
the  stem  or  trunk  of  the  tree.  From  this 
simple,  but  wonderful  zero  point  the  work 
of  plant  and  tree  building  commences  Just 
in  proportion  to  the  activity  of  the  roots,  so 
is  the  growth  of  the  top;  it  could  not  be 
otherwise.  The  little,  wee,  microscopic 
rootlets  are  away  down  out  of  sight,  multi- 
plying and  faithfully  gathering  moisture  and 
sending  it  up  to  the  other  extremities.  As 
the  plumule  shoots  up  it  forms  buds  at  the 
sides;  these  in  time  become  branches.  Out 
of  these  limbs  come  other  branches;  from 
these,  smaller  ones.  At  the  ends  of  all  are 
what  we  call  the  twigs,  on  which  is  borne  the 
leaves.  If  you  want  to  understand  blight 
you  must  always  keep  this  fact  in  mind,  namely:  The  little 
microscopic  rootlets  and  the  leaves  always  ivork  reciprocally. 
Let  me  use  an  illustration.  We  hear  the  hum  and  clatter  of 
thousands  of  machines;  we  see  the  "iron  horses"  darting 
hither  and  thither ;  the  electric  cars,  like  a  lot  of  bumble- 
bees, flying  here  and  there  ;  gigantic  steamers  plowing  the 
lakes  and  oceans,  etc.  Whence  comes  all  the  motive  power  ? 
From  the  sun.  He  has  stored  up  heat  in  the  bowels  of  the 
earth  in  the  form  of  coal.  But  the  direct  agents  who  move 
the  machines  on  the  surface  are  the  miners.  Suppose  you 
withhold  water  from  the  miners  ;  theyfawis/i  and  die.  Sup- 
pose you  fill  the  mines  with  water  and  drown  the  miners, 
the  result  is  the  same,  it  is  death  in  either  case.  That  means 
stagnation  or  even  death  to  commerce. 

It  is  just  so  with  your  trees  and  plants.    These  delicate, 
but  faithful  little  fibres  gather  up  the  moisture  and  the  leaves 
show  a  corresponding  activity.     The  leaves  are  real,  com- 
mercial workers.  The  leaf  receives  the  sap  as  it  is  brought  up 
by  capillary  attraction.     Oh,  wonderful  laboratory  of  nature 
is  the  leaf!  It  takes  the  crude  sap,  spreads  it  out  to  the  sun's 
rays,   which   decomposes   the   carbonic  acid,  and   the   leaf 
throws  off  the  oxygen  for  the  good  of  man  and  beast.     Cam- 
bium is  formed  and  is  returned  down,  layer 
upon  layer,  thus  constructing  countless  mil- 
lions of  trees  whose  timber  is  used  in  com- 
merce, and  whose  fruits  sustain  animal  and 
human  life.     Trees  thus  keep  up  activity  in 
the  commercial  world,  and  thereby  prevent 
war.     The  leaves  of  the  trees  are,  to  a  large 
extent,   the    factories   in   which   o.rygen    is 
manufactured,  without  which  the  human  and 
animal  creation  could  not  exist.     Literally  it 
is  true  that  ''the  leaves  of  the  trees  are  for 
the  healing  of  the  nations."     Wonderful  is 
the  leaf,  and  much  has  been  written  concern- 
ing it;  but  how  comparatively  little  has  been 
said  about  that  faithful  little  miner  or  rootlet, 
that  is  away  down  there  in  the  dirt  and  mud, 


spending  all  its  energies  to 
support  the  modest  or  gor- 
geous leaf  that  we  so  much 
adore,  and  over  which  we 
mourn  when  we  say  it  is 
blighted. 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  BLIGHT 
is  in  the  destruction  of  the 
smallest  rootlets.  They  are 
very  susceptible  to  injury. 
They  will  drown  or  die  of 
thirst.  Celery,  and  potatoes, 
etc.,  will  blight  in  prolonged 
wet  spells.  They  will  blight, 
also,  from  drought.  In  one 
case  the  rootlets  drown,  in  the 
other  they  work  as  long  as 
they  can  find  moisture,  then 
die  of  exhaustion — dry  up. 
What  follows?  The  leaves 
droop  and  die.  Then  those 
dead  leaves  become  the  feed- 
ing ground  for  the  fungoids, 
insects,  etc.,  which  we  say  is 
blight. 

Photo  101  exhibits  to  you  a  case  of  potato  blight.  The  one  to  the  left  was  blighted, 
that  to  the  right  was  not.  These  are  the  same  variety  of  potato,  same  quality  of  seed, 
and  planted  the  same  day,  June  15,  1901,  and  cultivated  all  alike.  Crop  all  did  well  till 
the  middle  of  August.  The  main  part  of  the  field  was  of  rather  a  stiff  clay,  and  below  an 
average  quality  of  fertility.  The  faithful  plants  pumped  out  all  the  moisture,  then,  of 
course,  the  leaves  wilted.  The  drought  continued  day  after  day,  and  one  by  one  the 
leaves  fell  off.  What  else  could  take  place?  At  one  end  of  the  patch  there  had  been 
some  vegetable  pits  the  fall  before.  The  pits  were  some  2  feet  deep.  They  were  filled  in 
the  spring  and  worked  over  like  the  remainder  of  the  field.  The  potatoes  did  not  blight 


Photo  98. 


Photo  99. 


over  these  pits.  Why?  Be- 
cause the  roots  went  doum  and 
found  moisture  among  the  bits 
of  leaves  and  straw  that  had 
been  plowed  under.  They 
stood  there  in  perfect  health 
for  six  weeks  after  the  main 
crop  had  been  dried  up.  See 
the  difference  in  the  crop  of 
tubers  !  The  sample  that  you 
see  at  the  right  were  dug  after 
a  sharp  frost,  about  the  8th  of 
October.  Good  drainage,  a 
plenty  of  fertilizer,  deep  plow- 
ing and  frequent  cultivating  is 
the  remedy  for  potato  blight, 
so-called.  What  is  called  blight  in  trees 
comes  from  the  same  source,  i.  e. ,  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  feeding  rootlets. 

PEACH  YELLOWS 

seems  to  puzzle  some  of  our  ablest  writers. 
The  peach  is  tenacious  to  life,  and  does  not 
throw  its  leaf  like  the  potato,  but  the  leaves, 
not  having  sufficient  moisture,  partially  dry, 
turn  yellow  and  drop  prematurely.  Of  course, 
you  find  fungoids  and  microscopic  insects  on 
the  leaves,  because  you  have   prepared  the 
conditions   for   them.     I   know    of   a   large 
peach  orchard  planted  twelve  years  ago.     It 
was  situated  on  a  high  altitude,  and  in  every 
way  favorable   to   that   fruit.     But  the  pro- 
prietor seems  to  have  thought  that  if  he  purchased  the 
trees  and  stuck  them  into  the  ground  the  Almighty  would 
attend  to  the  rest.  That  is  not  His  way  of  doing  business. 
God  never  helps  any  but  those  who  "help  themselves." 
If  you  want  peaches,  potatoes,  or  anything  else,  you  must 
"  co-operate."     This  would-be  peach  grower  allowed  his 
orchard  to  grow  up  to  grass,  briers,  etc.  This  absorbed  all 
the  moisture;  none  could  get  to  the  roots  of  the  trees,  and, 
sure  enough,  the  whole  orchard  became  struck  with  blight 
(peach  yellows).   Some  who  are  thus  afflicted  (?)  become 
almost  blasphemous  and  charge  the  blame  to  Providence. 
Dr.   H.   M.  Ladd,  of   Cleveland,  Ohio,   has  a   large 
poultry  farm  at  Kent,  Ohio  (Crescent  Farm).    They  raise 
the  highest  breeds  of  fowls.     Mr.  E.  T.  Blood  is  the  man- 
ager.    They  have  selected  the  finest  kinds  of  fruit  trees 
for  the  pens.     In  1895  they  planted  apples,  peaches  and 
plums.     In  the  following   year  a  larger  number  of  the 

same  species,  and  also  pears  were  added.  They  have  experimented.  All  trees  had  the 
ground  prepared  and  the  trees  were  carefully  set.  Hen  manure  has  been  applied  freely 
to  some,  and  soil  kept  worked,  thus  furnishing  both  a  stimulent  and  moisture.  Photo 
102  is  one  of  the  peach  trees.  It  is  so  healthy  that  the  bark  shines.  As  you  will  see,  the 
picture  was  taken  before  the  leaves  had  developed,  just  when  the  blossoms  had  expanded. 


Phot 


Photo  103  is  a  cherry  tree  planted  in  the  fall 
of  1896.  These  examples  show  what  good 
planting  and  constant  attendance  will  do. 
Photo  104  shows  you  late  Crawford  peaches 
in  the  lady's  right  hand,  grown  under  right 
conditions,  and  in  her  left  is  the  same  kind 
grown  under  an  unfavorable  state  of  things. 
Photo  105  presents  to  you  a  stem  of  the  Cham- 
pion peach  rightly  cared  for. 

I  would  suggest  this:  Take  time,  pre- 
pare for  the  trees  rightly,  even  though  you 
do  not  plant  so  many.  If  you  do  not  prepare 
the  soil  aright  and  plant  as  you  ought,  your 
trees  will  be  only  a  mockery  to  you. 

THE  PEAR  BLIGHT 

has  been  the  greatest  mystery.     On  account 
of  the  peculiar  constitutional  makeup  to  the 
tree,    it  has  been  hard  to  comprehend    the 
Photo   104.  cause  of  the  dead  branches.    It  is  well  known 

that  in  stepping  around  on  the  branches  and  loosening  the  bark,  when  gathering 
the  fruit  in  hot  weather,  will  kill  the  leaves  on  such  a  branch.  Also,  a  heavy 
freeze  in  late  spring,  or  excessively  hot  weather  in 
the  summer  months,  have  both  the  same  effect.  On 
the  night  of  the  i6th  and  ijth  of  May,  1895,  there 
was  a  very  heavy  freeze — a  regular  hoar  frost.  \Vater 
in  a  washtub  froze  2  inches  thick.  Marrowfat  peas  4 
feet  high  were  cut  so  that  they  lopped  over.  Two 
days  before  this  I  had  pruned  six  pear  trees  ;  they 
were  in  full  leaf  and  bloom  —a  beautiful  sight  !  Two 
days  after  the  frost  five-sixths  of  the  leaves  were 
almost  black.  What  had  taken  place  ?  Just  this,  viz. : 
The  freeze  had  ruptured  the  little  cells  that  were  con- 
veying the  sap,  just  as  a  tumbler  full  of  water  would 
be  rent  by  the  same  force.  This  took  place  not  only 
in  the  leaves,  but  in  the  twigs  and  smaller  branches. 
Circulation  stopped.  There  were  no  /eaves  now  to 
throw  off  the  surplus  moisture.  The  pumps  had  stopped, 
the  miners  (rootlets)  drowned !  Commerce  above  (the 
work  of  the  leaves)  had  suspended.  No  cambium  was 
returned  to  construct  the  roots.  Death  by  the  tens  of 
thousands  occurred  to  those  wonderful  subterranean 
workers.  Those  trees  stood  there  in  a  state  of  stagna- 
tion for  a  whole  year  before  they  could  adjust  them- 
selves to  this  terrible  shock.  They  were  on  a  gentle 
slope  toward  the  south.  Had  the  same  trees  been  on  a 
northern  slope  the  leaves  might  not  have  been  expanded 
and  the  whole  tree  would  have  been  in  a  more  sluggish 
state,  and  would  not  have  suffered  so  much,  and  probably  scarcely  any. 

SUMMER  BLIGHT 

is  caused  from  the  opposite  extreme — excessive  heat.  A  pear  tree  would  never  blight  in 
the  heat  of  summer  if  it  had  all  the  moisture  it  could  use.  The  stunted  geranium  in 
photo  159  has  suffered  from  exactly  the  same  cause  that  kills  your  pear  branches— lack 


Photo  105. 


of  moisture.  You  have  a  garden  ;  it  is  a  sandy  loam  ;  you  keep  it  clean  and  manure 
heavily;  everything  flourishes,  fruit  trees  and  all.  I  will  suppose  your  pear  trees  are 
seven  years  old  or  more.  You  are  delighted  as  you  look  at  their  symmetrical  tops 
and  vigorous  foliage.  Did  you  ever  think  how  much  moisture  is  thrown  off  by  the  foli- 
age of  one  of  these  trees  from  sunrise  to  sunset  ?  And  have  you  made  provisions  to  sup- 
ply the  water  ?  Probably  you  have  not.  Some  day  the  mercurv  will  run  up  to  nearly 
a  hundred  in  the  shade.  Then  could  the  thousands  of  little  working  fibres  but  speak  ! 
How  they  would  cry  out,  "Water  !  Water  !"  They  are  not  supplied;  alas,  they  perish  ! 
There  are  always  some  branches  more  favorably  situated  than  others;  the  sap  flows  more 
easily  into  these,  while  others  get  little  or  none.  The  latter  dry  up  and  wither;  the  leaves 
turn  almost  black,  and  we  exclaim,  "  It  is  blighted  !"  As  has  already  been  remarked, 
stepping  on  a  branch  in  hot  weather  will  sometimes  produce  this  same  effect.  In  this 
case  you  rupture  the  bark  and  stop  the  circulation,  which,  of  course,  is  followed  by  death 
to  the  foliage. 

It  is  commonly  supposed  that  blight  in  a  pear  tree  is  contagious.  It  is  not  directly, 
but  in  an  indirect  sense  it  is,  but  not  any  more  than  in  other  trees.  Dead  branches  or 
dead  stubs  on  any  tree  contribute  of  their  dead,  watery  substance  to  the  living  circulation, 
and  is  equivalent  to  blood  poisoning  in  the  human  system,  and,  therefore,  should  be 
removed  as  soon  as  discovered. 

You  can  now  understand  why  I  contend  that  the  pear  must  have  a  great  depth  of 
soil.  I  have  asserted  that  the  pear  must  have  clay.  This  is  not  so  much  on  account  of 
the  substances  in  the  clay  that  enter  into  plant  food,  as  it  is  that  clay  retains  the  moisture 
so  much  better  than  light  soils.  My  opinion  is  that  if  the  method  of  subterranean  water- 
ing, which  is  suggested  for  use  in  the  city  of  Cleveland,  were  used  (see  photo  115)  there 
would  be  but  little  or  no  summer  blight  in  the  pear.  Blight  from  late  spring  freezing  is 
not  entirely  under  our  control. 

But  very  little  is  ever  heard  of  pear  blight  in  England.  If  that  country  is  not  "the 
home  of  the  pear,"  it  is  a  natural  climate  for  it.  Never  having  the  late  spring  freezes 
nor  the  excessive  summer  heat,  no  destruction  of  leaf  or  rootlet  is  accomplished  from 
those  sources.  The  southern  and  middle  portions  of  the  United  States  will  never  be 
entirely  free  from  pear  blight,  but  it  is  possible  to  obviate  nine-tenths  or  more  of  it  by 
the  judicious  selection  of  location  and  the  provision  for  water  in  the  very  hot,  trying 
days,  especially  when  the  tree  is  laden  with  fruit. 

The  Tyson  pear  seldom  ever  blights,  because  its  roots  correspond  directly  to  the 
branches.  The  latter  have  a  straight  upward  growth;  the  former  plunge  nearly  straight 
down,  and  if  any  tree  will  find  moisture  the  Tyson  will.  The  Bartlett  blights  quite 
easily,  but  we  can  take  you  to  a  place  where  a  large  Bartlett  stands  and  bears  regularly 
every  year  and  has  never  blighted.  The  whole  trunk  of  the  tree  and  the  ground  in 
which  it  stands  is  shaded  after  noon.  The  soil  is  thus  kept  cool  and  considerable  mois- 
ture retained.  Young  pear  trees  do  not  blight  from  the  heat  of  summer  because,  being 
small  and  newly  planted,  they  find  all  the  moisture  needed. 

Suppose  you  apply  the  Golden  Rule  to  the  pear  tree.  Suppose  you  were  the  pear 
tree,  and  you  had  stood  there  year  after  year  faithfully  guarding  your  precious  treasures 
(the  buds)  in  the  storms  of  winter.  In  spring  you  develop  your  leaf  and  flower  bud,  and 
go  on  through  the  heat  of  summer.  Now  comes  a  real  hot  day.  You  call  on  all  your 
faithful  helpers  below  to  send  up  "  more  water  !"  They  work  till  they  are  exhausted. 
You  now  withhold  your  support  from  the  weaker  branches  and  try  to  save  the  best.  You 
succeed  in  saving  some.  Then  the  owner  comes  along  and  exclaims,  "  Look  at  that 
miserable  tree  !  I  have  a  notion  to  take  an  ax  and  cut  it  down."  Between  your  sobs  I 
think  I  hear  something  as  follows:  "  Sir,  we  have  wrought  to  the  best  of  our  ability; 
thousands  of  my  assistants  have  died  of  thirst.  Had  you  supplied  us  with  water  this 
calamity  would  not  have  happened." 

Whatsoever  you  would  that  men  should  do  for  you,  if  you  were  a  pear  tree,  do  ye 
even  so  for  the  tree. 


Calamity  of  the  City  of  Cleveland. 


"The  Forest  City."  This  is  what  the  lovely  city  of  Cleveland  is  called,  and  they 
have  not  a  tree  in  it  worthy  the  name  ;  at  any  rate,  not  within  a  mile  of  the  Square. 
Clevelanders  sorely  regret  this  and  have  labored  hard  to  procure  the  desired  shade.  De- 
feat has  met  them  on  every  hand,  and  it  seems  that  the  causes  of  their  failure  have  baffled 
their  wisest  heads.  "Why  can't  we  grow  decent  trees  on  the  Public  Square?"  has  been 
asked  by  thousands  of  Cleveland's  best  citizens.  One  says  the  failure  is  caused  by  gas 
leakage,  another  assigns  it  to  electric  currents,  a  third  attributes  it  to  smoke,  another  this, 
another  that.  Good  citizens  of  Cleveland,  there  is  just  one  cause  of  all  your  failures  with 

shade  trees.  There  are  some  other 
minor  matters  that  work  adversely  to 
your  trees  in  some  parts  of  the  city, 
which  I  will  present!}-  explain.  The 
one  cause  of  your  trouble  is  not  due  to 
electric  currents,  nor  smoke,  nor  any 
other  atmospheric  condition.  Were 
that  the  case,  it  would  affect  your 
flowerbeds  and  other  plants.  You  will 
recognize  a  portion  of  the  southeast 
corner  of  your  Public  Square  as  shown 
in  photo  107.  In  no  part  of  the 
United  States  is  there  a  healthier  or 
handsomer  lot  of  plants  grown  than 
around  your  soldiers'  and  sailors' 
monument.  This  is  true,  also,  in  your 


public  parks,  an 
effectual  and  an 
abiding  testi- 
mony to  the 
skill  of  Mr.  M. 
H.  Horvath,  the 
superintendent. 
This  gentleman 
is  one  of  the  best 
read  and  beat 
drilled  fl  o  r  a  1 
and  landscape 
professors  that  I 
have  ever  met  in 
Europe  or  this 
country. 

"Well,  what 
is  the  cause  of 
the  trouble," 
you  ask.  Look 
at  the  leafless 
Photo  108.  elm  tree  in 

photo  106.  This  photo  and  No.  107  were  taken  on  September  6,  1901,  about  two  hours 
before  the  fiendish  coward  fired  the  deadly  shot  at  our  beloved  President  McKinley. 
These  two  photos  preserve  the  mementoes  of  love  and  respect  which,  in  the  decorations, 
Clevelanders  manifested  toward  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  which  they  were  pre- 
paring to  receive  and  to  which  the  President  was  to  attend.  Now  look  at  that  elm  in 
photo  106.  What's  the  matter  with  it?  Is  it  blighted  ?  Yes,  it  is,  if  that  is  the  term 
you  wish  to  use  (see  blight,  pages  44-49).  It  is  blighted  so  badly  that  all  its  foliage  has 
dropped,  even  before  the  maples  had  put  on  their  autumn  tints.  What  has  happened  is 
this:  Every  delicate,  succulent  little  fibre  that  gathered  moisture  has  become  exhausted 
and  died  of  thirst.  What  shall  I  say?  "Shame!"  No,  because  you  knew  not  what  you 
were  doing.  Photo  108  shows  you  what  they  were  doing  on  the  Square  on  November  gth. 

They  were  digging 
holes  6  feet  deep 
and  5  feet  in  diame- 
ter. (The  trees 
planted  there  are 
healthy,  but  not  of 
good  form.  They 
will  do  well  for  a 
few  years,  but  can- 
not make  large 
ones. )  From  these 
holes  were  taken 
the  purest  and  bar- 
renest  sand.  Do 
you  expect  to  grow 
a  majestic  elm  or  a 
gorgeous  maple  in 
such  material?  If 
you  do  you  will 
wait  till  Doom's 
Dav  and  a  million 


years  after  and  then  fail. 
This  sand  will  not  retain 
enough  moisture  for  large 
trees,  besides  it  has  been 
affected  by  deep  drains,  con- 
duits, etc.  The  remedy  is, 
pull  out  every  tree  you  have 
there  and  excavate  4  feet 
deep,  and  run  this  barren 
rubbish  down  on  the  lake 
front  and  then  fill  in  with  a 
good  clay  loam.  Dispense 
with  sod  and  cover  with  3  or 
4  inches  of  gravel.  Do  this 
and  then  you  can  grow  the 


Photo 


elm  or  maple  with  top  from  50  to  75  feet  in  diameter.  "What !" 
you  exclaim,  "would  you  recommend  such  a  radical  move,  in- 
volving such  an  enormous  expense  T '  I  would.  You  have  spent 
enough  to  accomplish  this  ten  times  over  and  have  nothing  but 
objects  of  vexation.  But  I  am  sure  you  will  not  take  such  a 
rash  step  until  you  have  some  assurance  that  this  would  be  a 
remedy.  It  is  well  to  take  cautious  steps.  Hence,  I  make  you 
the  following  proposition,  namely:  If  your  park  officials  will 
do  just  as  7  tell  them,  I  will  plant  eight  small  elms  on  that  part 

of  your  Square  shown  in  photo  109.  These  elms  will  in  time  completely  cover  that  entire 
plat.  I  would  form  their  heads  not  less  than  15  feet  high,  so  as  not  to  obstruct  any  view. 
The  heads  of  the  trees  that  you  have  now  are  all  too  low.  Look  at  those  scrawny 
excuses  for  trees  in  front  of  the  Forest  City  House.  The  tops  should  be  up  high,  but  the 
branches  are  so  low  that  they  (together  with  the  scrubby  underbrush  called  shrubs,  a 
rendezvous  for  that  wonderful  songster,  the  English  sparrow)  cut  off  all  view  across  the 
Square.  I  will  plant  and  care  for  said  elms  for  ten  years,  and  neither  trees  nor  my  indi- 
vidual labor  shall  cost  your  city  one  cent.  As  your  whole  city  is  built  on  sand,  your  city 
officials  ought  to  have  "sand"  enough  to  take  up  my  proposition  and  have  the  test  made. 
You  can  never  get  a  fairly  good  shade  tree  on  your  streets  that  are  paved  unless  you 
plant  in  another  situation.  Photo  in  is  a  portion  of  Euclid  Place.  There  is  a  row 


of  sickly,  bark-peeled,  scrubby  maples 
planted  down  the  street  that  you  see.  All 
pains  have  been  taken  to  make  a  success 
with  them.  But,  in  the  first  place,  the 
trees  were  too  large  wThen  planted,  pro- 
ducing dead  centers  (see  page  31),  and 
second,  they  never  can  amount  to  any- 
thing there,  because,  in  addition  to  hav- 
ing nothing  but  pure  sand  to  root  in,  the 
street  is  paved  and  thereby  shuts  off  all 
rainwater  from  penetrating.  Though  they 
have  provisions  for  watering  and  have 
iron  tree  guards,  yet  there  they  will  stand 
year  after  year,  trying  to  thrive,  but  will 
be  nothing  but  scabby,  diseased  objects, 
•which  finally  will  be  torn  off  by  the  wind 
or  otherwise  perish. 

The  place  for  shade  trees  on  such 
pared  streets  is  inside  the  fence,  on  the 
lawn,  as  shown  in  photo  113.  Trees 
properly  planted,  say,  3  feet  from  the 
walk,  inside,  would  in  a  few  years  cover 
the  sidewalk  and  ultimately  go  to  the 
middle  of  the  street.  You  frequently  see  this  where  the  soil  is  good.  Photo  114  shows 
you  a  row  of  maples  planted  inside  the  fence,  whose  branches  extend  to  the  middle  of  a 
6o-foot  road.  This  is  west  of  the  beautiful  little  city  of  Ravenua,  Ohio.  To  prove  to  you 


Photo  115. 

what  I  say,  I  call  your  attention  again  to  photo  in.  The  first  tree  is  in  front  of  Mr.  F. 
H.  Clark's.  This  gentleman  is  a  member  of  the  Eclipse  Electrotype  Engraving  Com- 
pany, of  Cleveland,  who  executed  the  engraving  of  this  work.  Mr.  Clark  almost  adores 
a  fine  tree.  He  ordered  the  trees  which  you  see  in  front,  and,  of  course,  put  the  best 
there;  he  had  one  left  and  stuck  it  in  the  back  yard.  Photo  1 10  is  the  one.  Look  at  its 
robust  habit,  and  mark  the  heavy  foliage  in  contrast  with  ones  in  front  that  have  lost 
nearly  all  their  leaves.  What  is  the  cause  of  the  difference ?  Just  this,  namely:  Those 
in  front  are  root-bound,  and  have  not  been  able  to  procure  a  sufficient  supply  of  water. 
Mr.  Gorgeous  in  the  back  yard  has  had  no  restraint  on  his  roots;  he  has  been  rambling 
all  around  the  dooryard  and  quietly  (don't  tell  anyone!}  has  crept  under  the  fence  into 
the  neighbor's  garden  and  yard,  and  is  on  the  right  course  to  compare  favorably  some 
day  with  that  handsome  tree  on  page  21  You  Clevelanders  can  secure  fine  trees  if  you 

will  take  the  right  steps.  You  should 
entirely  abandon  the  attempts  to  grow  in 
the  narrow  borders  between  the  paved 
street  and  sidewalk,  and  set  the  tree 
about  3  feet  in  from  the  walk.  For  each 
tree  excavate  3  feet  deep  and  6  feet  in 
diameter.  Fill  in  the  bottom  i  foot  high 
with  sods  of  a  claye}'  nature  to  retain  the 
moisture.  Tramp  down  the  sods  well. 
Then  use  the  device  shown  in  photo  115 
for  subterranean  watering.  This  consists 
of  four  "T"  3-inch  tiles,  one  placed  in 
the  other,  as  you  will  see,  from  one  of 
which  other  tiles  run,  through  which 
the  water  is  conveyed  to  the  square.  The 
ends  of  these  tiles  composing  the  square 
are  closed  with  cement,  also  each  joint  is 
cemented  at  the  bottom  and  half  way  up 
the  sides.  This  forces  the  water  all 
around  and  it  comes  out  at  the  upper  side 
at  each  joint.  Set  a  small  tree  and  cover 
with  good  soil  as  directed  on  page  41.  As 
a  tree  grows,  circles  of  these  tiles  can  be 
placed  in  the  ground  2  feet  deep.  The 

54 


first    circle   should    be,    say,    6    feet 
(radius)  from  the  tree,  the  next  10,  etc. 
By  this  subterranean  method  of  water- 
ing you  can  grow  very  fine  trees  in  the 
city  of  Cleveland,  though  they  never 
will  be  as  large  as  in  localities  where 
all  the  soil  is  adapted  to  hold  moisture 
and  furnish  the  necessary  food  for  the 
plant.     It  is  safe  to  say  that  you  can  in 
this  way  produce  healthy  elms,  maples 
or  even  oaks  that  would  form  heads 
from  30  to  50  feet  in  diameter.  Where 
the  tree  is  exposed,  use  the  German 
Tree  Guard,  as  shown  in  photo  1 16.   This 
was  taken  in  front  of  Mr.  Paul  E.  Wer- 
ner's, Akron,  Ohio.     Almost  every  child 
has  heard  of  Paul  E.  Werner,  to  whose 
energy  and  tact  Akron  is  indebted  for  the 
largest    printing    establishment    in    the 
world.     If  Mr.  W'erner  does  not  worship 
at  nature'1  s  shrine  he  sings  her  praises. 
He  has  had  great  trouble  in  starting  trees 
(paved  streets  again,  you  see),  and  he  in- 
troduced this   commendable   tree  guard 
from  Germany,  where,  he  says,  he  saw 


Photo   118. 

them  in  every  city.  The  danger  in  planting  trees  in  yards 
is,  that  thoughtless  people  run  the  lawn  mower  against 
them,  which  ruins  the  tree.  A  specimen  of  this  is  seen 
in  photo  117.  The  remedy  is  a  simple  one,  namely:  Cut 
the  sod  away  from  the  tree  to  the  distance  of  a  foot,  as 
shown  in  photo  118.  Keep  this  hoed  to  prevent  weeds 
starting.  It  is  beneficial  every  way,  as  the  rain  soaks  in 
and  helps  the  plant.  You  plant  too  thick  in  Cleveland 
and  form  the  tops  too  low.  Plant  30  feet  apart.  The  row 
of  trees  down  by  the  lake  front  are  among  your  highest, 
but  they  cut  off  the  view  of  the  lake.  (See  photo  112. ) 

Very  sensible  tree  guards  made  of  wire  have  lately 
appeared  to  keep  horses  from  gnawing  trees.  It  is  as- 
tounding how  thoughtless  people  are  in  such  matters. 
L,ook  at  photo  119.  This  is  the  result  of  horses  gnawing 
the  tree  when  hitched  to  it.  If  you  have  a  tree  in  front 
be  sure  that  you  have  also  a  hitching-post. 

Well,  good  people  of  Cleveland,  the  blame  is  not  to 
be  attributed  to  you  for  having  failed  to  produce  good 
trees,  for  you  have  tried  hard  and  failed,  when  others 
have  done  nothing  and  succeeded.  It  is  unfortunate  that 
all  the  main  part  of  your  city  is  built  on  the  most  sterile 
soil  and  barren  sand.  As  you  go  east  a  few  miles  (Gor- 
don Park  for  example)  the  soil  changes  and  vegetation 
improves.  Going  west,  also,  the  betterment  takes  place. 
At  West  Madison  Avenue  the  surface  is  underlaid  with 

55 


about  2  feet  of  clay  sub-soil,  and  though  there  is  the  barrenest  sand  under  the  clay,  yet 
the  trees  look  fairly  well. 

The  State  House  grounds  at  Columbus  have  but  little  better  trees  than  the  Square  at 
Cleveland.  What  the  soil  is  in  Columbus  I  have  not  had  a  chance  to  examine,  but  Ohio 
(  "The  land  of  the  beautiful" )  should  have  trees  around  the  State  House  worthy  of  such  .a 
productive  and  magnificent  state.  They  can  have  them  in  Columbus  if  they  will. 

Planting  trees  between  the  sidewalk  and  paved  streets  should  be  abandoned  for  two 
reasons.  First,  there  would  be  no  interfering  with  telephone,  telegraph  and  electric 
wires.  Second,  in  planting  inside  the  sidewalk,  and  forming  the  tops  high,  the  walks 
would  be  completely  shaded. 

In  order  for  the  people  of  Cleveland  to  understand  the  trouble  with  their  trees,  they 
should  study  carefully  what  we  have  said  on  "blight."  What  was  said  there  is  here 
repeated,  namely:  There  is  no  such  thing  as  blight  as  a  disease,  and  further,  health 
defies  disease.  Of  course,  I  do  not  mean  that  young  trees  will  defy  cattle,  or  healthy 
potatoes  repel  the  attacks  of  bugs,  but  it  is  true,  according  to  scientific  investigation, 
that  the  potato  bug  always  attacks  the  weak  plant.  The  scientist  informs  us  that  if  the 
parent  bug  were  to  deposit  its  eggs  on  a  healthy  leaf,  when  they  hatched  and  they  ate 
through  the  leaf  the  flow  of  sap  would  be  so  copious  that  it  would  literally  drown  them. 
Hence,  by  natural  instinct  the  mother  bug  selects  the  dryer  leaf  that  her  young  may  not 
be  subjected  to  danger.  Carry  this  thought  further.  Last  year  you  were  alarmed  at  the 
inroads  of  the  oyster-shell  bark-louse,  a  tenacious  and  deadly  foe,  on  your  Carolina 
poplars.  Why  did  they  attack  the  poplars  of  Cleveland  more  than  any  other  place?  I 
think,  upon  investigation,  you  will  find  that  the  weak  constitution  of  the  trees  invited 
the  attack.  Suppose  your  trees  could  have  made  the  growth  of  those  of  Dr.  W.  W. 
Osgood's,  Kent,  Ohio  (see  photo  79),  in  three  years,  would  not  the  free  flow  of  sap  have 
drowned  the  youngsters  and  thus  defeated  the  assailants  ?  I  did  not  see  the  diseased 
trees,  but  presume  they  must  have  been,  like  all  your  others,  of  feeble  growth. 

In  photo  165,  you  will  see  a  handsome  lot  of  young  elms.  Pains  were  taken  to  sow 
the  seed  and  raise  these  plants  for  the  city  of  Cleveland.  Our  representative  is  authorized 
to  present  one  of  these  plants  to  each  person  purchasing  THE  TREE  DOCTOR  (as  long  as 
they  last) ,  and  instructions  for  cultivation  goes  with  each  tree.  Remember,  these  were 
started  the  first  year  in  the  new  century,  and  we  call  them  "the  century  elm."  (See 
photo,  page  3. )  A  test  of  one  thousand  elms  in  your  city  will  prove  the  truth  of  the 
assertions  which  I  have  made.  You  can  grow  good  trees  in  Cleveland  if  you  make  the 
conditions  right.  It  will  take  time  to  prepare  for  the  planting.  You  should  agitate  for 
the  calling  of  public  meetings,  and  adopt  every  means  that  will  lead  to  the  production  of 
shade  trees  which  you  so  much  need. 

The  trees  that  you  now  have  on  your  Public  Square  can  amount  to  but  little.  The 
northeast,  northwest  and  southwest  corners  should  be  completely  covered  with  fine  foli- 
age. You  can  get  it  if  you  will.  If  your  officials  wish  to  accept  the  eight  elms  proposed 
I  will  set  them  either  next  Arbor  Day,  or  a  year  from  that,  and  I  will  keep  the  plants 
growing,  and  they  can  take  time  to  make  ready.  An  universal  movement  should  be 
made  in  our  public  schools  concerning  trees  as  the  friends  of  man  and  beast.  Would 
like  to  see  Cleveland  inaugurate  such  a  laudable  work. 

What  has  been  said  concerning  the  state  of  things  in  Cleveland  will  apply  substan- 
tially to  any  others  afflicted  in  the  same  manner.  It  is  hoped  that  Clevelanders  will 
apply  the  remedy  so  that  we  will  not  be  suspected  of  burlesque  when  we  speak  of  "The 
Forest  City." 

Read  "Inspection  of  Nurseries,"  in  the  back  part  of  this  work. 


DEPARTMENT  II.     Ornamental. 


No  matter  how  grand  an  object  may  be,  the  eye  tires  of  sameness.  This  is  exempli- 
fied in  the  fact  that  rural  people  have  a  mania  for  "  moving  into  town,"  and  town's  peo- 
ple long  for  the  pure  air  and  charming  scenes  of  country  life.  Ornamental  planting  is 
not  particularly  desirable  around  town  or  city  residences,  for,  as  a  rule,  there  is  an  over- 
balancing of  the  artificial  in  urban  surroundings.  This  is  one  reason  why,  in  the  city, 
with  so  much  stiffness  and  lack  of  a  variety  of  real,  living  objects,  people  sigh  for  rural 
scenery,  strive  to  procure  fine  shade  trees  and  make  "pets"  of  horses  and  other  animals. 
The  proper  thing  to  do,  is  to  so  build  and  so  apply  the  landscape  art  as  to  blend  the 


Photo    120. 

natural  and  artificial.  In  cities,  ornament  planting  should  not  be  overdone.  In  rural  dis- 
tricts it  may  be  adopted  liberally  with  splendid  effect  and  an  enhancement  of  real  estate 
value.  In  England,  Scotland  and  many  other  parts  of  the  old  world,  the  historic  yew 
has  been  freely  planted  for  ornamental  purposes.  But  this  is  a  slow-growing  tree  and 
lives  to  a  great  age.  You  probably  have  seen  the  photographs  of  many  of  these  vener- 
able and  majestic  beauties.  It  is  well  to  plant  the  yew,  but  the  average  American  does 
not  take  to  the  idea  of  setting  a  tree  that  will  mature  five  hundred  years  from  now.  The 
American  is  the  man  of  the  ";/0a'/"  At  any  rate,  he  does  not  care  to  wait  but  a  few- 
years  to  see  the  result  of  his  labor.  That  being  the  case,  we  give  you  a  few  examples  of 
quick-grozL'ing  plants  that  can  be  used  for  ornamental  work. 
57 


In  photo  120  you  see  the  burial  lot  of  the 
Hon.  Marvin  Kent,  in  Standing  Rock  Ceme- 
tery, Kent,  Ohio.  The  city  of  Kent  is  named 
in  honor  of  this  venerable  gentleman.  In 
the  rear  of  the  lot  you  observe  a  tall  ever- 
green tree.  This  is  a  Norway  spruce.  On 
either  side  of  the  entrance  is  a  shorn  tree  ; 
these,  also,  are  Norway  spruce  and  the  same 
age  as  the  tall  one.  Shearing  or  pruning  has 
the  tendency  to  dwarfs,  tree  or  plant.  (This 
is  why  skilled  gardeners  prune  fruit  trees, 
and  train  them  to  produce  early  bearing.) 
These  trees  stood  about  15  feet  high  in  1881. 
They  were  cut  back  in  August  of  that  year. 
The  shorn  arbor-vitae  hedge  that  you  see 
stood  7  feet  high  and  was  cut  back  at  the 
same  time  the  trees  were.  Both  trees  and 
hedges  are  shorn  in  August  of  every  year. 
Photos  I2r,  122,  123  and  124  are  all  taken 
from  the  beautiful  Standing  Rock  Cemetery. 
The  arbor-vitae  is  capable 
of  being  trained  into  almost 
any  form.  In  121  you  will 
notice  a  specimen  that  resem- 
bles a  cross.  That  is  what  it 
was  started  for,  but  the  train- 
ing has  not  been  good.  All 
that  was  necessary  to  secure 
this  form  was  to  drive  a  stake 
having  cross  arms.  To  each 
of  these  a  good,  strong 
branch  was  fastened  and  the 
top  cut  off.  Another  branch 
was  carried  up  and  the  top 
clipped  out.  An  annual  trim- 
ming has  brought  it  into  the 
present  form.  It  is  well  for 
boys  and  girls  to  practice  forming  designs 
with  this  variety  of  arbor-vitae.  This  is  the 
American  arbor-vitae.  The  arch  formed  in 
photo  122  is  the  same  kind.  So  is  the  hedge 
and  the  one  seen  in  the  distance,  as  is  also 
the  hedge  in  photo  120.  By  setting  four 
plants,  and  about  the  third  year  bending 
down  the  branches,  you  can  form  a  dog  or 
other  animals.  A  good-sized  one  in  your  front 
yard  might  do  quite  a  little  "scaring"  on 
moonlight  nights.  The  two  pyramidal  trees 
in  photo  1 23  are  the  Siberian  arbor-vit  02.  The 
plants  of  a  globular  form  at  the  corners  in 
photo  124  are  Hovey's  golden  arbor-vitae. 
The  tree  in  the  midst  of  the  lot  with  the  two 
rings  formed  is  the  American  blue  spruce. 
The  arbor-vitae  must  not  be  planted  under 


the  shade  of  other  trees, 
for  they  will  not  grow. 
No  other  tree  should  be 
planted  within  20  feet  of 
them,  unless  it  is  one  that 
is  to  be  shorn.  Photo  125 
presents  to  you  a  case  of 
failure  under  other  trees. 
One  of  the  commonest 
mistakes  with  the  arbor- 
vitic  is  not  keeping  them 
Ion1  enough.  They  have 
frail  branches  and  a  heavy 
snow  will  crush  them,  as 
shown  in  photo  126.  The 
hedge  should  be  allowed 
to  grow  unrestrained  for 
about  four  years.  Then 
cut  the  plants  off,  say,  18 
inches  from  the  ground. 
Be  careful  to  form  your 
lines  rig/it  to  start  with. 
Have  an  uniform  plane. 
Don't  cut  the  side  straight 
up  and  down ;  if  you  do  the 
foliage  will  not  do  well. 
Round  it  over  as  you  see 
the  hedge  is  in  photo  120. 
You  cannot  form  hedges  or 
ornamental  trees  from  the 
pine,  fir  or  larch.  The 
pine  throws  out  a  season's 
growth,  at  the  termination 
Photo  125.  of  which  are  a  number  of 

buds  which  become  latetals  (side  branches).     If  you  cut  off  the  leaders  of  the  pine  you 
can  stunt  or  dwarf  the  tree,  but  you  cannot  make  it  bushy.     The  spruce  is  different. 


Photo  127  shows  you  the  top  of  a  young 
Norway  spruce.  The  leader  has  been 
severed  and  placed  down  at  the  right.  If 
you  look  at  it  you  count  eight  or  ten 
little  knobs  distributed  at  its  sides.  These 
are  latent  buds.  If  you  clip  the  top  off 
all  these  latent  buds  become  excited  into 
activity,  and  on  them,  also,  will  be  the 
latent  buds.  The  more  you  shear,  the 
more  you  excite  these  dornmant  branches, 
Hence  the  Norway  spruce  is  one  of  the 
very  best  plants  for  hedges.  It  is  just  as 
ornamental  as  the  arbor-vitse  and  possesses 
the  great  advantage  of  strength.  The 
hedge  that  you  see  in  photo  129  is  of  this 
kind,  and  its  strength  is  such  that  you 
can  lay  a  common  fence  board  on  it  and 
walk  on  it  with  pleasure.  The  hedge  is 
about  24  years  old.  In  photo  128,  to  the 
left,  you  see  one  of  these  same  trees. 
Three  tiers  of  branches  were  taken  out 
and  the  bottom  ones  were  trimmed  into  a 
globular  form.  Up  from  the  middle  of 
this  the  main  .trunk  is  allowed  to  grow. 
There  is  quite  a  number  of  these  in  a  row 
relieved  by  a  variety  of  other  designs — 
arbor-vitae  and  others.  The  hedge  in 
photo  130  is  okf  Norway  spruce.  That  has 
been  started  rightly,  low  down,  so  that  it 
can  be  controlled.  The  plants  in  that 
hedge  and  the  ones  in  131  came  in  the 
same  box  in  1886.  This  shows  what 
dwarfing  can  be  done  by  clipping.  If  you 
were  to  cut  down  the  plants  in  the  hedge 
shown  in  photo  131,  half  way,  the  top 
would  thicken,  but  it  would  never  fill  out 
well  below.  The  only  way  to  get  it  thick 
at  the  base  is  to  start  low,  as  shown  in 
photo  130,  when  the  plants  are  young. 
After  the  lower  branches  have  been 
brought  out,  if  you  keep  the  hedge 
rounded  over,  you  can  gradually  bring  it 
higher  and  still  maintain  the  density  at 
the  base  of  the  sides. 

All  evergreens  are  partial  to  high  and 
dry  lands.  You  can  do  nothing  with  them 
in  low,  soggy  soils.  If  you  desire  hedges 
in  the  latter,  use  osage  orange  or  honey 
locust.  Before  planting  a  hedge,  if  the 
soil  is  not  good,  excavate  to  the  depth  of 
Photo  129.  2  feet  and  replace  with  good  soil,  placing 

sods  in  the  bottom  if  you  can  procure  them.    Use  small  plants,  not  more  than  a  foot  high. 

Keep  cultivated.     L,et  no  weeds  grow.     Mulch  heavily  with  manure  in  the  fall;  remove 

mulch  in  the  spring. 


It  is  not  desirable  to  have  a  lot  of 
evergreens  around  a  dwelling  house  ;  the 
wind,  whistling  through  them,  "sounds 
too  much  like  a  cemetery."  It  would  be 
well,  however,  to  plant  in  groves  to  en- 
courage as  nesting  places  for  birds. 

A  LAMENTABLE  BLUNDER 

has  been  made  in  destroying  our  "feath- 
ered friends."  A  French  naturalist  has 
set  forth  the  fact  that  the  human  race 
could  not  exist  over  nine  years  if  all  our 
insectiverous  birds  were  destroyed.  Kind 
Mother  Nature  has  varied  her  general 
plans  here  ;  she  has  arranged  so  that  we 
might  not  have  to  wait  till  our  enemies 
(the  bugs)  die  of  old  age,  but  has  given 
us  the  birds  to  "catch  'em  alive."  But 
we,  foolish  children,  have  slaughtered 
our  best  friends,  the  birds.  The  swallow 
is  said  to  capture  some  3,000  flies  in  a 
day  ;  the  chickadee  is  the  destroyer  of 
the  eggs  of  the  canker  worm  ;  the  mead- 
ow-lark feeds  on  bugs,  as  do  also  the 

blackbird,  crow  and  a  host  of  other  kinds, 
rnoto  uu.  it.     r  •      j       r  1  •    j 

Among  the  mends  or   mankind  none  is 

more  faithful  than  the  beautiful,  half-domestic  quail.  In  1900  a  great  agitation  arose  in 
Ohio,  which  looked  like  a  war  between  sportsmen  and  the  farmers.  The  real  facts  were, 
the  agriculturists  were  struggling  to  have  the  quail  placed  under  perpetual  protection, 
on  account  of  their  inestimable  value  as  destroyers  of  innumerable  hosts  of  bugs  and 
other  enemies  of  the  fanner.  City  people,  as  well  as  agriculturists,  must  learn  the 
grave  fact  that  we  cannot  destroy  our  friends  without  paying  the  penalty.  The  shooting 
of  birds  for  sport  has  had  a  baneful  effect.  We  should  teach  our  children  the  great  mis- 
take of  doing  so.  Marksmanship,  however,  should  be  taught  in  our  public  schools,  to 
both  boys  and  girls.  It  strengthens  the  arm  muscles  and  gives  a  strong  nerve,  and 
confidence  takes  the  place  of  timidity  and  fear.  Woe  the  nation,  then,  that  would 
assail  Uncle  Sam  ! 


DEPARTMENT  III.     Landscaping  and  Floriculture. 

THE  LANDSCAPE  ART. 

The  Americans,  as  a  people,  are  more  lavish  in  their  house-building  than  any  other 
people  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Not  only  native-born  Americans,  but  perhaps  a  majority 
of  those  who  "come  from  o'er  the  sea"  have  an  innate  desire  for  that  sacred  something  that 
we  call  "home."  Indeed,  this  is  the  prime,  actuating  motive  that  leads  the  average 
foreigner  to  leave  his  native  land.  He  dreams  of  a  plot  of  land  that  will  be  his  ;  of  a 
house  (possibly  an  humble  one)  that  he  can  call  his  home.  Aye  !  "Home,  sweet  home." 
How  little  we  stop  to  think  of  the  measureless  effort  that  has  been  put  forth  in  this  direc- 
tion, and  how  few  of  us  think  seriously  on  this  one  fact,  namely:  That  home-building 
is  one  of  the  prime  factors  that  enter  into  the  vital  energies  of  our  commercial  activity. 
Let  a  serious  panic  come  and  see  what  a  paralysis  seizes  on  commercial  life.  But  I  must 
write  on  economics. 

I  desire  to  raise  a  question  here,  namely:  Considered  from  an  actual  financial  stand- 
point, have  we  not,  in  some  degree,  erred  in  the  methods  of  expending  money  ?  For 
example,  you  are  driving  along  and  you  see  a  costly  building,  but  perhaps  it  is  out  of 
proportion  to  the  lot,  or  possibly  the  person  who  graded  it  was  better  qualified  to  dig 
ditches  or  drive  cows  to  the  pasture  than  to  pose  as  a  landscaper.  Or  the  grading  might 

be  too  stiff,  as  in  photo  134, 
or  the  planting  might  be  a 
huge  blunder,  beclouding 
the  front  and  shutting  off 
all  views,  as  in  photos  132 
and  133.  At  any  rate,  your 
mental  ability  to  blend  and 
balance  and  measure  and  to 
judge  of  correct  propor- 
tions tells  you  ' '  there  is 
something  wrong. ' '  You 
drive  a  little  farther  and 
your  attention  becomes 
riveted  on  a  small  property 
worth,  perhaps,  not  more 

Photo  132.  than  $5,000.     There  is  the 

lovely  green  front,  like  a 
carpet,  with  an 
occasional  shade 
tree.  Shrubs  are 
at  the  side,  filling 
out  the  nooks  and 
corners.  The 
front  yard  has 
either  no  flower 
beds,  or  a  single 
one,  a  majestic 
beauty,  as  you  see 
in  photo  142;  but 
that  is  not  in  the 
middle  of  the 
yard;  that  would 
be  too  "studied" 

62 


Photo  134. 

and  stiff.  The  lawn  is  not  &JJat,  dead  level,  but  slightly  rolling,  as  in  photo  135  (a  model 
"open  lawn  center,"  the  home  of  Ira  Herriff,  the  popular  undertaker  of  Portage  County, 
Ohio.)  Look  at  photo  136.  If  you  were  standing  on  the  front  porch  that  is  how  you 
would  see  the  lawn  to  your  left.  You  will  notice  the  ornamental  grasses  and  other 
shrubbery  are  forced  back  to  the  side.  This  is  in  accord  with  the  excellent  taste  of  S.  T. 
Williams,  the  former  owner.  Photo  137  presents  to  you  a  glimpse  of  the  neat  little 
property  of  Dr.  W.  W.  Reed,  of  Kent,  Ohio.  There  was  almost  a  dead  level  from  the 
sidewalk  to  the  bottom  of  the  third  tier  of  underpinning,  or  "ashler,"  as  it  is  called  (the 
point  from  which  the  grade  starts).  This  was  very  objectionable.  The  remedy  was  to 
excavate  about  8  inches  inside  the  sidewalk,  gliding  dow^n  from  the  walk  to  a  point  about 
12  feet  in  from  the  walk  and  then  gradually  raising  the  grade  up  to  the  house.  As  the 
eye  now  catches  the  grade  it  runs  up  to  the  house,  making  it  look  elevated,  though  it  is 
still  on  a  level  with  the  sidewalk.  The  real  art  of  landscaping  consists,  very  largely,  in 
producing  those  illusions.  The  real  landscape  artist,  like  the  poet,  is  born,  not  made. 
He  has  not  an  imitative,  but  a  creative  mind.  No  one  can  ever  imitate  nature,  because 
she  has  no  duplicates.  I  know  a  gentleman  who  has  spent  over  thirty-five  years  in  the 
art  of  landscaping  and  never  executed  two  pieces  of  work  alike.  It  cannot  be  done  with 
success  any  more  than  one  suit  of  clothes  will  exactly  suit  two  persons.  The  similarity 
may  be  so  near  that  there  is  no  serious  objections,  yet  variety  is  desirable,  because,  as  we 
have  said,  the  eye  tires  of  sameness. 

Glance  again  to  photo  134.  This  is  a  beautiful  house,  highly  elevated  and  everything 
in  favor  of  bringing  out  the  most  charming  results.  Look  at  the  house;  straight  lines 
and  angles.  Now  look  at  the  terrace;  straight,  level  line  with  angles  at  the  ends,  as  if  a 
level  had  been  used,  and  the  whole  job  finished  with  a  jack-plane.  The  want  of  attrac- 
tiveness in  this  property  grows  entirely  out  of  the  want  of  variety.  Look  at  the  planting. 
There  are  two  cut-leaved  birch,  two  arbor-vitas,  tu<o  Irish  junipers,  two  weigelias,  two 
roses,  etc.  The  job  was  probably  "bossed"  by  some  boy  who  had  just  been  learning  his 
"two  times"  table.  Two  hundred  dollars'  expenditure  on  the  grade  of  that  property  and 
judicious  planting  would  have  added  two  thousand  dollars  to  its  selling  value.  By  a  con- 
servative estimate  on  the  increase  of  value  of  property  by  the  application  of  the  landscape 
art  puts  it  somewhere  from  two  to  ten  dollars  for  every  dollar  expended.  In  building,  if 
funds  are  short,  it  is  sensible  and  profitable  to  put  less  into  the  house  and  have  the 


Photo    135. 

surroundings  complete.  A  mansion  without  the  landscape  finish  looks  defective  and 
sometimes  repulsive,  but  a  log  cabin,  with  a  nicely  finished  yard,  everything  "balanced," 
with  neat  walks  and  drive  proportional  in  width  to  the  frontage,  and  a  judicious  arrange- 
ment of  trees,  shrubs  and  flowers,  brings  forth  spontaneously  the  exclamation:  "  That  is 
home  /"  Many  a  man  who  grades  yards  knows  nothing  more  than  to  rake  off  the  sur- 
face and  make  it  smooth,  and  has  no  idea  of  proportion,  waves,  rolls,  flares,  etc.,  and 
cares  but  little  about  the  quality  of  soil  used  and  has  no  understanding  how  to  make  the 
flower  beds  (which  in  new  lawns  should  always  be  made  when  the  work  on  the  grounds 
is  being  executed).  Perhaps  these  men  do  the  best  they  know  how,  but  the  trouble  is 
they  are  not  born  landscapers,  but  work  of  such  importance  should  not  be  entrusted  to 
them.  Study  the  art  yourselj;  determine  what  you 
want  and  see  that  your  wishes  are  carried  out.  To 
assist  you,  some  few  "pointers"  will  be  given. 

Never  use  a  terrace  if  you  can  dispense  with  it. 
The  main  objection  against  the  terrace  is,  it  is  hard  to 
take  care  of.  In  134  there  is  a  double  terrace  and 
there  was  no  need  of  any.  The  foundation  of  the 
house  might  just  as  well  have  been  two  feet  lower, 
and  as  the  house  is  back  from  the  street  some  200  feet 
there  was  an  excellent  chance  for  a  graceful  slope  and 
a  spacious  lawn,  with  plenty  of  room  (at  the  side),  for 
the  most  gorgeous  display  of  decorative  plants.  Some- 
times the  terrace  has  to  be  used.  Photo  140  gives  an 
example.  That  is  a  property  which  was  said  to  be 
graded  when  the  picture  was  taken,  but  it  changed 
hands  and  the  grade  did  not  suit  the  new  proprietor  Photo  136. 


Photo    137. 

As  one  stepped  from  the  porch  he  was  in  danger  of  rolling  down  the  grade.  That  photo 
was  taken  the  first  week  in  May.  The  next  photo  (141)  was  taken  July  5th,  about  nine 
weeks  after.  You  can  see  there  has  been  quite  a  transformation.  A  team  was  put  to 
work  scraping  in  earth  to  fill  out  the  front,  to  make  the  lawn  proper  wide  enough  to 
show  a  contrast  with  the  house  and  for  the  convenience  of  the  occupants.  This  made  a 
very  abrupt  embankment  and  had  to  be  sodded,  but  you  will  notice  that  there  are  no 
sharp  points,  but  the  terrace  rounds  up  and  merges  into  the  lawn.  Had  this  house  been 
built  10  or  12  feet  further  back,  no  terrace  would  have  been  needed. 

Before  you  lay  out  the  cellar  be  sure  that  the  right  proportion  exists  between  the 
front  grounds  and  the  building  itself.  For  example,  if  the  depth  of  your  house  is  to  be 
50  feet,  it  should  be  no  less  distance  from  the  sidewalk  to  the  house.  A  greater  depth  of 
lawn  would  look  better. 

You  never  can  apply  any  landscape  art  to  offset  the  awkward  appearance  of  a  big 
house  in  a  small  yard.  It  can  only  be  excused  in  structures  erected  (in  towns)  for  board- 
ing houses,  etc.  There  is  a  way  to  partially  overcome  the  out-of-proportion  front  yard. 
Glance  again  at  photo  140.  You  see  a  (comparatively)  big  house  on  a  little  hillock.  Now 
look  at  the  same  house  in  photo  141.  You  see  the  heavy  vines  growing  around  the 
porch;  mark  the  effect,  they  hide  the  woodwork  and  become,  substantially,  to  the  eye 
a  part  of  the  yard.  The  landscape  artist  understands  these  little  points  and  adopts 
"  means  to  the  end"  to  produce  different  effects.  He  has  to  study  forms,  sizes  and 
colors  like  a  milliner  would  in  fitting  hats  for  ladies.  The  art  is  allied  to  floriculture,, 
and,  like  bouquet-making,  there  are  no  set  rules — naturalness  is  the  thing  to  be  studied. 
There  are  thousands  of  people  who  have  natural  taste  and  adaptation  for  this  charming- 
vocation,  who  never  have  taken  the  first  step  in  the  way  of  application.  Develop  your- 
selves; let  us  have  more  charming  landscape.  One  of  the  most  deplorable  things  is  the 
waste  of  the  best  soil.  Usually  the  house  is  "let"  by  contract.  Stake  out  the  cellar. 
Bring  on  the  teams  !  Scoop  out  the  soil  !  Cover  it  up  with  clay,  gravel,  sand  or  any- 
thing that  comes  in  the  way!  Drag  this  over,  work  it  down,  rake  it  off,  scatter  in  the 
grass  seed,  plant  the  trees,  shrubs,  flowers,  etc.,  we'll  soon  have  a  yard.  Of  course,  you 
will;  you'll  have  a  yard  and  nothing  in  it !  Don't  curse  the  seedman  because  the  grass 
seed  wasn't  good;  don't  find  fault  with  Providence  because  everything  is  dying  on  your 
hands.  Make  conditions  favorable  and  all  will  come  out  right.  See  that  every  bit  of 
soil  is  taken  care  of.  Fill  all  depressions  with  stones,  rubbish,  sand,  brick-bats,  gravel, 
anything,  in  fact,  that  will  not  settle.  Put  on  the  top  soil;  get  your  grade  pretty  near 
where  you  want  it,  and  then,  well,  don't  be  in  a  hurry  !  If  it  is  the  fall  of  the  year,  let 
your  lawn  lay  over  till  spring,  then  work  it  over  as  soon  as  dry  enough.  You  will  now 
accomplish  two  things,  i.  e.,  first,  you  fill  up  all  depressions,  and,  second,  you  will  destroy 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  weeds  just  as  they  are  germinating.  Early  spring  sowing  of 
65 


grass  seed  is  always  a  success.  Late 
spring  and  summer  sowings  are  not 
reliable;  the  question  of  their  tender 
roots  standing  the  torrid  heat  of  July 
and  August  will  be  determined  by  the 
frequency  of  showers  and  cloudy 
weather.  If  you  grade  your  lawn  in 
the  late  spring  or  summer,  let  it  lay 
and  work  it  over  once  in  two  weeks. 
This  will  kill  weeds  and  all  will  be 
"settled"  by  the  first  week  in  Septem- 
ber. Then  sow  your  seed  and  rake  in 
and  roll. 

WHAT  IS  THE  BEST  KIND  OF  SEED? 


Kentucky  blue  grass  is  the  very 
best  to  form  a  tough  sod.  White  clover 

will  fill  out  and  make  your  lawn  like  a  carpet./Itis  nause  to  sow  the  clover  except  in  the 
spring.  If  you  sow  in  the  summer  it  will  burn  out.  )  If  you  sow  in  September  it  will 
start  nicely,  but  most  always  winter-kill.  Don't  use  the  common  red  clover.  The  red 
and  white  are  both  shown  in  photo  139.  The  plant  to  the  right  is  the  coarse-growing, 
red  variety;  that  to  the  left,  the  Dutch  or  white  clover ;  specially  adapted  for  lawns.  In 
photo  138  to  the  left  is  a  bunch  of  Kentucky  blue  grass.  )This  multiplies  by  running  in 
the  soil  and  shooting  up  new  blades,  like  the  lily-of-the-valley .  This  in  itself  is  pre- 
eminently the  best  lawn  grass  there  is.  ^The  plant  to  the  right  is  timothy.  We  have 
often  used  it  in  the  summer,  as  it  germinates  easily  and  is  a  strong  grower.  Sowed  with 
blue  grass  the  timothy  works  all  right,  as  the  timothy  will  give  out  in  a  few  years  and 
the  blue  grass  will  have  full  sway.  The  lawnmower,  however,  must  be  kept  at  work  or 
the  timothy,  being  so  much  ranker,  will  crowd  out  the  blue  grass.  Red  top,  also,  is  a 
good  lawn  grass,  especially  adapted  for  low,  heavy  soils.  Make  your  own  choice  of  what 
seed  you  use,  but  don't  use  the  red  clover;  too  rank.  You  may  get  some  idea  how  thick 

to  sow  when  I  say  your  seed  should  lay  on 
the  ground  so  that  (in  a  rough  way  of  guess- 
ing) if  averaged  up,  they  would  be  from  a 
half  inch  to  an  inch  apart.  The  experienced 
landscaper,  the  moment  he  sees  a  yard  to  be 
converted  into  a  lawn,  has  the  main  points 
right  before  him.  The  points  are  the  bottom 
of  the  cut  stone  in  the  house  as  a  starting 
point,  and  his  drops  to  the  drive,  sidewalk, 
street,  etc.  Then  he  has  to  study  how  to 
carry  out  a  gentle  roll,  like  the  brow  of  a 
hill,  then  to  sweep  down  as  if  a  wave  had 
receded,  and  in  a  variety  of  ways  reproduce 
a  natural  appearance. 

The  landscaper  is  in  his  glory  when  he 
can  branch  out  in  parks  and  other  public 
grounds.  There  his  creative  faculties  are 
brought  into  play.  The  camera  could  be  of 
but  little  use  to  teach  the  art  of  landscaping 
on  public  grounds.  It  could  not  take  in 
enough  to  be  of  any  particular  service.  I 
have  selected  a  few  small  properties  to  con- 
Photo  139.  vey  the  lessons  on  the  main  principles  of 


Photo   140. 


the  art,  knowing  that  if  people  comprehend  them,  they  need  not  have  a  "botched-up" 
job  forced  upon  them.    To  succeed  in  landscaping  one  must  have  a  general  knowledge  of 

FLORICULTURE. 

Who  is  there  that  does  not  love  a  flower — some  flower?  Well,  there  are  such,  but, 
thank  fortune,  they  are  but  few.  Imagine  a  world  without  music,  birds  and  flowers  ! 
We  would  want  to  emigrate,  would  we  not?  The  author  of  this  work  has  nothing  more 
indelibly  fixed  on  the  mind  than  "grandmother's  flower  garden."  How  he  and  his 
brothers  and  sisters  used  to  delight  to  visit  this  paradise  around  the  thatched  cottage. 
What  thrifty  "ear-drops"  (fuchsias)!  How  charming  the  roses!  How  fragrant  the 
wall-flowers,  sweet-williams  and  stocks  !  And  how  our  little  hearts  bounded  with  joy 
when  grandma  gave  us  each  a  sweet  bouquet,  kissed  us  and  said,  "Give  my  love  to 
mother  and  father;  good-bye,  come  again."  Who  can  begin  to  measure  the  elevating 
and  purifying  effects  of  flowers?  No  wonder  the  Great  Teacher  gave  the  world  the  text, 
"Consider  the  lilies,  hoiv  they  grow.'1'1  The  (almost)  universal  love  of  flowers  is  one  of 


the  things  which  proves  the  world  is  growing  better.  Did  you  ever  try  to  estimate  the 
amount  of  money  annually  spent  in  the  United  States  for  flowering  plants  and  shrubs  ? 
Add  to  this  the  immense  sale  of  cut  flowers,  and  it  certainly  runs  into  the  millions  of 
dollars.  But  what  a  lamentation  all  over  the  land  !  "I  can't  grow  the  pansy,"  "  I  can't 
succeed  with  the  carnation,"  "I'd  give  anything  if  I  could  succeed  with  the  rose,"  etc. 
It  is  really  sad  when  we  think  of  the  multitude  of  people  who  freely  spend  money  to 
beautify  their  homes,  and  then  fail.  If  I  can  succeed  in  assisting  such,  certainly  I  shall 
not  have  lived  in  vain. 

You  should  read  every  word  in  the  article  on  "Blight"  (see  pages  44  to  49  inclusive), 
before  you  peruse  these  instructions.  Remember,  there  is  no  such  disease  as  "blight." 
Nothing  happens  to  the  human  being,  animal  or  plant  without  a  cause.  The  normal 
condition  of  all  living  things  is  health.  Plants  will  "take  cold,'1''  "catch  disease"  or  suffer 
from  wounds  like  the  animal  creation.  There  can  be  nothing  more  elevating  to  children 
and  youth  than  the  study  of  plant  life.  Cold  winds  will  blast  the  leaves  of  trees  in  late 


Photo  142. 


spring  or  early  summer.  The  excessive  heat  of  summer  will  wither  them  if  they  are  not 
supplied  with  moisture.  The  pastures  dry  up  in  July  and  August,  your  roses  give  out, 
your  carnations  fail  to  do  anything  for  you,  potato  vines  and  pear  trees  "blight,"'  etc. 
Now  what  is  the  trouble?  Are  all  these  things  diseased,  or  are  a  part  of  them  "resting?" 
That  is  what  I  will  try  to  make  clear  to  you.  The  cause  of  all  these  happenings  is  the 
same,  namely  :  the  destruction  of  the  minute  fibrous  roots.  The  visible  fibres  were  once 
called  "spongioles, "  but  the  microscope  reveals  workers  smaller  still.  They  are  won- 
derfully susceptible  to  injury.  I  again  suggest  that  you  read  the  article  on  "Blight." 
You  will  find  there  how  the  various  causes  operate  against  these  little  laborers. 

You  cannot  succeed  with  the  pansy  in  July  and  August,  but  they  are  not  necessarily 
diseased;  they  are  resting.  Read  the  article  on  the  pansy. 

Your  carnations  do  not  thrive  in  hot  weather.  They  also  are  resting.  The  carna- 
tion, as  you  know,  is  much  like  the  common  garden  pink.  Their  nature  is  such  that  they 
do  best  in  a  moist  temperature,  ranging  from  50  to  70  degrees,  hence  they_do  their  prin- 


cipal  work'  in  May.     The  carnation  will  bear  a  little  higher  temperature,  but,  as  you 
know,  they  are  not  hardy. 

The  rose  also,  you  are  aware,  does  its  best  work  the  latter  part  of  May  and  early 
part  of  June.  Then  the  "perpetuals, "  as  they  are  called,  rest  in  the  hot  months  of  July 
and  August.  If  the  "perpetual"  rose  has 
proper  treatment  it  will  bloom  again  in 
September. 

THE  HOME  OF  THE  ROSE 

or  its  natural  climate  is  in  England.    There 
is  no  more  charming  sight  than  the  tree 
rose.     To   produce   a  tree   rose,  a  common 
"Hewmack"  or  wild  rose  is  taken,  and  into 
this  is  budded  any  of  the  high-grade  vari- 
eties.     It  is  almost  impossible  to  describe 
the  beauty  of  the  old  Lord  Raglan,  Mare- 
chal   Neil,     Gen.    Jacqueminot    and    other 
larger  but  more  delicate  tints  of  roses  grow- 
ing on  veritable  trees,  a  straight  stock,  with 
the  head  formed  some  four  or  five  feet  from 
the  ground.     But  it  seems  that  the  eastern, 
northern  and  middle  states  of  America  are 
not    favorable    to    the   tree  rose.     They   winter-kill. 
However,  if  pains  were  taken,  this  might  be  averted. 
You  must  avoid  a  wet,  soggy  place  for  the  rose,  but 
they  must    have    day.     If    you  want   a   real,  good, 
healthy,  permanent  rose-bed,  make  it  four  feet  deep. 
If  it  be  heavy  clay,  put  in  an  underdrain  to  prevent 
water  from  lodging  there  and  destroying  ihe  feeders. 
Fill  up  three  feet  of  this  with  two-thirds  of  clay  sods 
and   one-third   of  heavy  cow   manure    or   night-soil. 


r 


Photo  148, 


(The  best  "Jack"  roses  I  ever  grew  were  from  a  bed 
that  had  three  loads  of  night-soil  mixed  with  the  sod. ) 
The  top  or  last  foot  of  soil  may  be  from  the  garden, 
and  should  have  no  "raze/"  manure  with  it.  Set  your 
plants  in  the  early  spring.  Never  prune  in  late  fall. 
Pruning  should  be  performed  just  as  the  buds  are 
beginning  to  push,  in  spring.  Cut  out  all  weak  wood 
and  dead  branches  and  clip  the  tops  of  the  remaining 
ones.  If  you  made  a  rose-bed  in  the  form  of  a  trench 
and  adopted  the  subterranean  watering  suggested  on 
page  54,  you  could  start  your  hybrid  perpetual s  the 
latter  part  of  August  and  get  them  into  bloom  in  Sep- 
tember. To  get  the  plants  to  bloom  in  September, 
they  should  be  pruned  in  August.  In  the  eastern  and 
northern  states,  our  hardiest  roses  are  liable  to  suc- 
cumb to  the  severity  of  winter.  In  photo  162  you 
have  presented  two  methods  of  wintering  the  rose. 
To  the  right  you  see  a  mound  drawn  up  around  the 

70 


Photo  149. 


base  of  the  rose.  To  the  left  is  an  excellent 
plan  exemplified.  The  branches  are  tied 
together  and  a  common  building  tile  is 
slipped  down  over  them.  This  tile  is  nearly 
filled  with  sand  or  common  earth,  and  a  few 
leaves  tucked  in  on  top.  No  frost  will  kill 
the  plants  below  this  protection,  and  the 
hybrids  can  be  wintered  in  this  way  in 
Northern  Dakota,  and  in  Central  Ohio  the 
most  tender  tea  roses  will  winter  all  right. 
When  your  hybrids  become  large,  protect  them  in  this  same  way  by  putting  nail  kegs  or 
small  barrels  over  them.  But  be  sure  to  use  the  earth  or  sand.  A  large  quantity  of 
leaves  or  straw  will  smother  the  plants.  Syringe  your  plants  every  spring,  once  a  week, 
when  the  buds  begin  to  push,  with  a  solution  of  whale-oil  soap,  until  the  leaves  are  fully 
expanded.  This  will  keep  off  the  slug  and  other  pests.  Let  no  weeds  grow  around  the 
rose.  Keep  it  cultivated.  The  hybrids  need  no  water  if  the  bed  be  rightly  made.  Beds 
for  the  teas  should  be  made  not  less  than  two  and  one-half  feet  deep,  and  if  the  subter- 
ranean method  of  watering  be  adopted,  a  profusion  of  bloom  would  be  secured  through 
the  whole  summer.  Don't  try  to  force  the  hybrids  in  July  and  earl}'  August.  All  plants 
need  rest.  That  is  the  time  they  take  it.  The  rose  will  do  wonders  if  it  has  good  co-op- 
eration. In  1876  we  planted  a  yearling  Solfratare  (climbing)  rose.  The  third  year  after, 
a  friend  made  an  estimate  of  3,000  buds  on  it  at  once.  This  was  in  a  greenhouse,  the 
bed  had  four  feet  of  soil,  and  under  that  was  heavy  clay,  into  which  it  rooted.  The 
front  lawn  is  not  a  desirable  place  for  a  rose-bed,  particularly  the  hybrids,  as  there  is 
nothing  attractive  about  them  only  when  in  bloom.  The  rose  must  have  sunlight,  the 
more  the  better.  Even  the  tea  rose  will  never  be  anything  more  than  &  partial  success 
as  a  pot  plant  in  dwelling  houses  (see  "Pot  Plants").  The  magnificent  "Jacks," 
"Brides,"  American  Beauties,"  etc.,  that  you  see  on  the  market  in  the  winter  season, 
are  produced  in  "rose  houses"  specially  constructed  for  that  purpose. 

The  carnation  has  a  comparatively  small  root.  A  good  garden,  with  a  rich  soil, 
about  a  foot  deep,  is  the  best  place  to  grow  them.  They  are  not  a  success  as  a  pot  plant 
in  the  summer  season,  but  they  do  fairly  well  in  the  fall,  winter  and  spring.  Don't  keep 
around  old  plants.  If  you  cannot  root  "slips,"  procure  young  plants  from  the  green- 
house every  spring.  A  two-inch  pot  plant  is  large  enough.  Plant  in  the  garden,  pinch 
back  the  top  a  few  times  to  make  it  bushy.  Cultivate  as  you  would  corn  or  potatoes. 
Lift  carefully  in  the  latter  end  of  August  or  the  beginning  of  September,  and  place  it  in 
a  6,  7  or  8  inch  pot,  according  to  size  of  plant.  Shade  it  from  10  a.  m.  to  3  p.  m.  for  a 
week.  Use  a  jardiniere.  The  carnation  thus  treated  will  give  satisfaction.  When  the 
plant  becomes  exhausted,  in  spring,  pitch  it  out  and  prepare  others  in  the  foregoing 
manner.  It  is  well  to  set 

PLANTS  FOR  CUT  FLOWERS 

in  the  vegetable  garden.  The  geranium, 
feverfew,  heliotrope,  mignonette,  sweet 
alyssum,  candytufts,  verbenas,  etc.,  do 
better  in  the  common  garden  soil  than 
anywhere  else,  provided  that  such  soil  be 
"in  good  heart. "  Put  them  in  a  fresh 
place  every  year. 

FLOWER-BEDS  FOR  LAWNS. 

Many  failures  in  the  lawn    flower- 
bed are  for  the  want  of  knowing  the  na- 
ture of  the  plant.     Before  you  make  the 
71 


bed,  determine  what  you  are  going  to 
plant  in  it.  Are  you  going  to  grow  for 
leaf  or  lor  flower? 

Suppose  you  want  a  canna-bed,  such 
as  is  presented  to  you  in  photo  142,  how 
would  you  proceed?  Well,  that  is  what 
you  want  to  know.  I  don't  know  that 
you  are  prepared  to  duplicate  it,  but  here 
is  the  formula:  Rise  at  3:303.  m.,  dig 
for  two  hours,  wheeling  away  the  sand, 
gravel  or  clay,  continuing  every  morning 
until  you  have  a  hole  eight  feet  in  diam- 
eter and  three  feet  deep.  Have  a  big 
two-horse  wagon-load  of  cow  manure 
hauled,  and  mix  this  in  with  good  soil. 
Tramp  it  down  so  that  it  will  not  settle 

too  much.  Round  it  up  eighteen  inches  higher  than  the  surface.  Prepare  the  caladium- 
bed  the  same  way.  Cannas  and  caladiums  are  very  succulent  and  will  stand  the  hot 
sun,  but  must  be  supplied  with  an  abundance  of  water  or  the  leaves  will  wither.  This 
reacts  on  the  root,  destroying  the  feeders.  (See  "Blight.") 

The  caladium  is  grown  entirely  for  the  leaf.  (See  the  two  plants  in  the  old  stumps 
in  photo  143.)  Cannas,  also,  are  grown  mainly  for  the  foliage.  The  new  French  vari- 
eties have  gorgeous  flowers.  The  coleus,  as  you  know,  is  cultivated  entirely  for  the 
richness  of  its  foliage.  This  plant  delights  in  a  rich,  light  soil.  The  bed  should  not  be 
less  than  two  feet  deep,  the  more  fertilizer  the  better.  The  flower  of  the  coleus  is  incon- 
spicuous, and  should  be  pinched  out.  Remember,  you  are  cultivating  entirely  for  leaf. 
Now  suppose  you  plant  a  geranium  in  the  bed  prepared  for  the  canna  or  coleus,  you 
would  have  the  same  result — a  huge  leaf,  bigger,  perhaps,  than  a  common  tea  saucer,  but 
no  flower  !  When  you  find  that  your  geranium  has  a  large  leaf  and  scarcely  any  flower, 

you  will  know  what's  the  trouble 
— soil  too  rich. 


For  the  heliotrope,  sal  via 
and  such  plants,  the  flower- 
bed should  be  two  feet  deep, 
and  the  soil  light  and  mod- 
erately rich. 

For  tulips,  hyacinths, 
the  gladiolus  and  lilies,  the 
bed  should  be  two  feet  deep, 
well-drained,  and  the  soil 
moderately  light  and  rich. 

In  photo  149  you  have 
what  was  intended  for  a 
floiver-bed,  but  no  pains  were 
taken  to  prepare  the  soil.  In 
photo  1 50,  the  gravel  was  all 
dug  out  and  sods  dumped 
into  the  bottom,  and  good 
soil  placed  on  top.  Which 
is  your  choice? 

The  quality  of  your 
plants  and  their  bloom  will 
depend  on  the  preparation 
of  the  bed.  Dame  Nature  has  no  favorites. 


Photo   154. 

Her  laws  are  unalterable.     She  co-operates, 
nd  that  is  all.     Then,  if  you  want  flowers,  garden  or  field  crops,  be  "up  in  the  morning" 

and  do  your  part. 

VINES. 

In  photo  143  you  have  a  view  of  a  robust, 
rapid-growing  vine  ;  it  is  one  of  the  gourds,  the 
one  known  as  "  Hercules  Club."  The  seed  was 
planted  on  May  5th.  (It  is  a  hard-shelled  seed, 
should  have  been  planted  four  weeks  before. )  This 
photo  was  taken  July  i6th  ;  from  this  you  can  get 
some  idea  of  the  rapidity  of  its  growth.  Photo  145 
is  the  leaf  and  flower.  Photo  144  is  the  same  vine 
on  August  igth.  In  ninety  days  from  time  of 
planting,  the  vines  crossed  over  the  front  steps, 
making  a  growth  of  more  than  thirty  feet  in  that 
time.  We  do  not  get  variety  enough  in  vines. 
There  is  too  much  planting  of  the  old  woodbines, 


Photo   155. 


Photo  157. 

wistarias  and  such  hardy  plants  for  porch-shading.  The  hardy  ones  are  grand,  but  it  is 
preferable  to  have  them  away  from  the  woodwork  of  a  building.  If  you  substitute  the 
annuals,  they  can  be  removed  after  the  first  frost,  and  an  abundance  of  light  and  air  can 
be  admitted  to  the  building.  Photo  146  shows  the  south  side  of  the  same  building.  You 
will  notice  the  absence  of  all  "stiffness"  in  the  vines.  The  one  that  the  lady  is  examin- 
ing is  the  "variegated  hop,"  a  very  attractive  plant  and  a  rampant  grower.  Against 


Photo  161. 


the  house  are  growing  the 
modest  "puff-ball"  and 
graceful  cypress.  This 
latter  is  not  cultivated  as 
extensively  as  it  should 
be.  Photo  147  shows  you 
the  delicate  foliage  and 
one  each  of  its  waxy- 
white  and  scarlet  star- 
shaped  flowers.  Running 
vines  on  straight  strings 
is  too  "studied."  At  the 
first  window  in  photo  146 
are  a  few  morning-glories 
run  up  a  stout  string, 
and  then  allowed  to  ram- 
ble off  and  climb  up  a 
fish-pole  that  was  stand- 
ing there.  They  shade 
the  kitchen  window  suf- 

Photo  159.  ficiently,  but  do  not  shut 

out  all  the  sun.     In  this 

way  the  foliage  does  not  become  dead  inside.     Photo 

148  shows  you  the  morning-glories  taken  in  the  kitchen,  looking  out  of  the  window. 
Look  up  your  seed  catalogues  and  see  if  you  cannot  select  something  that  will  break  up 
the  "sameness"  into  which  we  have  fallen  in  vine-planting.  You  are  probably  already 

admiring  the  vig- 
orof  these  luxuri- 
antclimbers.  How 
do  you  think  these 
were  produced  ? 
Now,  don't  be 
shocked  when  I 
tell  you  that  it  was 
"night-soil"  that 
stimulated  such 
growth.  There  is 
not  a  greater  nui- 
sance or  abomina- 
tion than  the  com- 
mon privy-vault. 
Beyond  doubt,  it 
is  a  prolific  pest- 
breeder.  Theztttt/7 
should  be  aban- 
doned, and  a  floor 
or  drawer  substi- 
tuted. This  should 
be  cleaned  regu- 
larly twice  a  week. 
Dry  earth  should 
be  used  each  day. 
Contents  should 
be  kept  covered 


in  a  trench,  and  used  yearly  in  making  flower- 
beds and  be  placed  under  newly-set  trees.  Thus 
one  of  the  most  offensive  nuisances  is  converted 
into  profit  and  grandeur.  The  fine  vines  that 
you  have  admired  in  these  photos  are  growing 
in  borders  dug  out,  two  feet  wide  and  two  and 
one-half  feet  deep.  The  night-soil  and  earth 
were  mixed  in  the  bottom,  making  a  compost 
about  eighteen  inches  deep.  Good  soil  was 
used  on  top.  Having  such  a  depth  of  earth, 
there  was  scarcely  any  water  applied  until  real 
hot  weather,  and  then  but  comparatively  little. 
To  get  vines,  caladiums,  cannas  and  all 
rampant,  vigorous-growing  plants  to  do  well, 
throw  out  all  the  soil  in  the  bed  or  border,  and 
mix  in  a  new  supply  of  compost  every  year. 


HARDY  VINES. 

It  is  preferable  to  train  the 
hardy  vines  on  trellises,  brick 
buildings,  old  trees,  etc.,  and  not 
to  have  them  on  wooden  structures. 
In  photo  151  you  see  a  beautiful 
arbor.  This  is  the  Virginia  Creeper 
or  common  American  Ivy,  some- 
times called  "woodbine."  This 
bower  was  made  in  1881.  Though 
over  twenty  years  old,  it  seems  to 
increase  in  beauty  every  year.  The 
leaf  of  that  vine  you  will  readily 
recognize  in  the  upper  left-hand 
corner  of  photo  152.  The  leaf  in 
the  upper  right-hand  corner  is  the 
variegated  hop.  The  creamy  yel- 
low stripes  of  the  leaf  do  not  ap- 
pear here,  as  yellow  takes  dark  in  a 
photograph.  The  leaf  in  the  cen- 
ter of  that  photo  is  the  ampelopsis  veitchii,  or  common  "Boston  Ivy,"  the  very  best  plant 
ever  grown  for  brick  or  stonework.  See  how  it  covers  the  brick,  as  shown  on  the  corner 
of  the  house,  in  photo  153.  In  the  lower  left-hand  corner  of  photo  152  is  that  dangerous 
little  fellow,  the  poison  ivy.  The  poison  of  this  plant  will  not  affect  some  people,  while 
others  will  be  affected  by  its  poison  carried  on  the  wind.  The  antidote  for  this  poison  is 
a  tea  or  wash  made  from  the  common  "plantain,"  which  you  will  see  in  the  same  photo- 
graph. 

THE  PANSY. 

Ah,  modest,  human-faced,  wonderful,  far-renowned  pansy  !  Where  is  the  child,  the 
hurried  woman,  the  busy  man  or  the  venerable  patriarch  that  does  not  admire  thee? 
How  all  desire  to  have  a  good  pansy-bed,  and  how  very  few  succeed  !  Yet  the  pansy  is 
one  of  the  easiest  and  simplest  plants  to  grow.  The  gorgeous  pansies  of  to-day  are 
evoluted  from  the  wee  little  "birdseyes"  or  "johnny-jump-ups"  that  grow  wild  in  the 
open  fields  in  Europe.  It  is  claimed  that  a  young  German  lady  commenced  their  im- 
provement. See  where  we  are  to-day,  and  still  improving  !  What  a  lesson  on  possibilities! 

70 


In  order  to  succeed  with  any  plant,  you  must  know  the  nature  of  that  plant.  You 
should  always  ask,  "Where  is  the  home  of  this  plant  ?"A  When  you  know  the  climate 
from  whence  it  came,  then  you  have  the  key  to  success.  Suppose  they  try  to  cultivate 
the  coleus  out-of-doors  in  England  ;  failure  is  the  result,  not  hot  enough.  In  place  of 
the  gorgeous  coleus,  the  English  gardener  has  been  driven  to  substitute  some  of  the 
high-bred  geraniums.  The  celebrated  "Mrs.  Pollock"  was  a  marvel  in  England  as  a 
decorative  plant,  but  the  same  "Mrs.  Pollock"  geranium  in  the  United  States  is  a  total 
failure  ;  too  hot.  In  England  no  bed- 
ding-plant is  more  attractive  than  the 
brilliant,  dashy  calceolaria,  but  the  hot 
sun  of  America  is  too  much  for  it,  and 
we  are  deprived  of  the  pleasure  of  this 
plant  in  our  lawns.  In  England  the 
charming  tuberous-rooted  begonias  are 
grown  (for  commercial  purposes)  in  the 
open  field.  In  America  they  succeed 
well  only  in  partially  shaded  situations. 
These  are  enough  examples  to  impress 
on  you  the  importance  of  studying  the 
nature  of  each  plant. 

Now,  what  is  the  nature  of  the 
pansy  ?  About  the  same  as  that  of  the 
common  violet.  When  do  the  violets 
bloom  ?  In  spring.  You  might  call  a 
pansy  a  perpetual-blooming  violet.  It 
is  a  late  fall  and  early  spring  plant. 
Who  is  there  that  does  not  know  that, 
under  favorable  conditions,  one  might 
go  out  and  pick  pansy  blossoms  under 
the  snow  ?  Knowing  the  nature  of  your 
plant,  you  have  the  key  to  success. 
Seed  should  be  sown  (in  the  United 
States)  some  time  in  August.  Young 

Photo  164. 

plants  should  be  set  the  last 
week  in  September  or  early 
part  of  October,  in  a  bed 
that  has  been  prepared  for 
their  permanent  location. 
Plants  should  be  set  about 
eight  or  nine  inches  apart, 
as  shown  in  photo  157.  Just 
before  hard  freezing,  they 
should  be  put  into  winter 
quarters,  as  shown  in  photo 
158.  This  consists  in  putting 
straw  neatly  between  the 
rows  and  drawing  it  up  close 
to  the  plants  and  tucking  it 
in  so  as  to  prevent  the  fre- 
quentfreezing  and  lhau'ing; 
otherwise,  the  changes  will 
lift  the  plant  out  of  the 
ground  and  kill  it.  A  few 


Pho 


leaves  will  do  the  same  service  if 
held  in  place  by  a  little  brush.  Be 
careful  not  to  cover  too  thick,  or 
you  will  smother  the  plants.  When 
hard  freezing  is  over  in  spring,  re- 
move the  leaves  or  straw  and  cul- 
tivate the  soil.  Never  let  a  weed 
grow  among  them. 

But  very  few  people  know  the 
possibilities  of  the  pansy.  It  has  a 
wonderful  root!  Had  it  not,  it 
could  not  accomplish  what  it  does. 
In  photo  154  you  have  a  specimen 
of  an  average  young  plant.  It  has 
just  one  flower  and  one  bud,  but 
the  clump  of  earth  that  you  see  is 
all  full  of  roots.  You  should  make 
the  bed  for  the  pansy  not  less  than 
eighteen  inches  deep.  The  first 
six  inches  in  the  bottom  may  be 

sod  ;  the  upper  portion  should  be  one-third  thoroughly  rotted  manure,  mixed  with  light 
soil.  If  the  soil  is  not  naturally  light,  make  it  so  by  mixing  muck  or  leaf-mould  and 
some  sand.  Photo  155  gives  you  a  view  of  a  pansy  in  a  state  of  rest.  You  will  observe 
the  long,  half-dead  branches  lying  on  the  ground.  One  of  them  has  been  staked  up  for 
inspection.  If  you  look  closely,  you  will  see  quite  a  number  of  "joints."  At  each  joint 
there  has  been  a  flower.  There  are  twenty-one  of  them  on  this  branch,  and  there  were 
twenty-seven  branches.  It  would  average  twenty  flowers  to  the  branch  :  27  X  2O  =  54° 
flowers  on  one  plant,  and  this  only  one  crop!  At  the  crown  of  the  plant  you  will  notice 
a  new  supply  of  young  wood  coming  up.  This  photo  (155)  was  one  of  a  bed  of  one 
hundred  plants.  At  the  same  rate  that  this  produced  its  first  crop,  the  whole  product 
would  be  between  fifty  and  sixty  thousand  flowers  !  But  they  had  done  only  about  half 
their  work.  The  new  growth  of  wood  that  your  attention  was  called  to  commenced  its 
work  in  September,  and  is  (at  this  writing)  lying  dormant  under  the  snow.  They  will 

do  greater  work  when  spring  opens,  as 
they  are  already  established  on  very 
strong  roots.  About  half  the  weak 
branches  should  be  removed  ;  that  will 
strengthen  the  remaining  ones  and  give 
proportionately  large  flowers.  These 
plants  will  have  finished  their  work  by 
the  middle  of  July,  when  they  should 
be  dug  out  and  the  bed  renewed  with 
additional  compost,  and  something  else 
planted  therein. 

Photo  156  presents  to  you  a  platter 
of  November  pansies,  among  which  the 
white  ones  are  very  conspicuous. 

Don't  try  to  force  your  pansies  in 
July  and  August;  this  is  their  season 
of  rest. 

To  secure  large  flowers,  the  pansies 
should  be  cut  every  morning,  leaving 
on  the  vines  the  ones  that  developed 
the  previous  day.  It  is  well,  occasion- 

78 


ally,  to  cut  some  of  the  weak  branches  with  the  flowers.  Don't  try  to  maintain  a  stock 
of  pansies  from  the  same  plants,  after  the  first  seeding.  They  have  a  strong  tendency 
to  "breed  back."  In  a  few  years  they  run  into  the  commonest  kinds.  It  will  pay  you 
better  to  get  the  new,  up-to-date,  improved  strains.  They  are  kept  up  under  the  highest 
state  of  cultivation  and  the  most  careful  selection.  Henderson,  Dreer,  Vick,  Storrs  & 
Harrisson,  Burpee  and  many  other  firms  send  out  a  high-grade  class  of  seeds.  If  you 
desire  pansy  plants,  we  would  suggest  that  you  write  "The  Columbian  Pansy  Farm, 
Kent,  Ohio."  They  expect  to  have  from  three  to  five  million  plants  next  September. 

Don't  set  young  plants  too  deep  ;  they  would  be  apt  to  rot  off.  Don't  put  a  pansy- 
bed  in  the  front  lawn,  unless  you  are  going  to  remove  them  in  July  and  fill  in  with 
coleus  or  something  else  for  summer  display.  Don't  plant  the  pansy  in  shade  or  "par- 
tial shade,"  as  recommended  by  many  seed  catalogues.  You  cannot  get  strong,  healthy 
plants,  nor  the  rich  shadings  of  flowers,  without  sunlight.  The  error  of  the  "partial 
shade"  recommendation  arises  from  the  attempt  to  get  the  plant  to  work  in  July  and 
August.  The  almost  total  failure  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  people  with  the  pansy 
ought  to  be  enough  to  lead  them  to  study  the  nature  of  the  plant  and  adapt  themselves 
to  its  requirements.  Let  us  hope  that  all  will  profit  by  the  mistakes  of  the  past. 

POT   PLANTS. 

There  is  no  greater  failure  to  be  found  than  with  "  potted  plants."  This  is  all  to  be 
traced  to  root  failure.  To  understand  how  that  is  brought  about,  read  from  page  40  to 
56.  It  is  utterly  impossible  for  you  to  grow  a  healthy  plant  unless  the  roots  are  kept  in 
what  the  florists  call  a  "  working  condition." 

In  photo  159  you  have  a  sickly  geranium.  It  was  grown  in  a  2j^  inch  pot ;  it  is 
eleven  months  old.  You  have  seen  dozens,  possibly  hundreds  in  similar  condition. 
Photo  1 60  presents  to  you  a  geranium  nine  weeks  old.  Compare  the  two.  Well,  you  are 
anxious  to  know  the  how  and  the  why  concerning  such  a  marked  contrast.  It  is  easily 
explained.  When  you  put  any  plant  into  a  flower-pot,  and  it  begins  to  grow,  the  roots 
strike  out  toward  the  sides,  i.  e.,  they  go  toward  the  heat  by  which  the  vessel  is  sur- 
rounded. As  soon  as  they  reach  the  side  they  double  back  and  are  thrown  up,  down  or 
sideways.  As  long  as  there  is  moisture  and  the  proper  temperature  all  goes  fairly  well. 
But  I  will  suppose  that  the  lady,  after  having  attended  the  plants,  turns  her  attention  to 
other  duties,  or,  possibly,  goes  calling.  The  plants,  we  will  presume,  are  in  the  window, 
or,  possibly,  out  on  the  flower-stand.  The  sun  comes  out  real  hot  and  strikes  directly 
on  this  particular  flower-pot.  What  is  the  result  ?  Just  this  :  the  flower-pot  becomes 
heated  up  so  intensely  that  you  could  not  bear  your  hand  on  it,  and  every  one  of  those 
delicate  little  fibrous  rootlets  are  destroyed  !  What  follows?  Just  this  :  one,  two,  three 
or  more  of  the  lower  leaves  droop,  turn  yellow  and  drop  off.  Why?  Because  all  the 
pumps  that  had  sent  up  the  moisture  are  ruined  !  You  come  along  and  exclaim  :  "  Why, 
dear  me  !  The  plants  are  wilted."  You  hustle  around  and  sprinkle  them  and  thus  save 
them  from  total  destruction.  Do  you  know  what  such  a  shock  to  a  plant  signifies?  It 
means  this  :  that  you  must  wait,  perhaps,  from  three  to  five  weeks  before  the  plant  can 
reconstruct  the  root  force  that  you  have  allowed  to  be  destroyed  in  probably  not  more 
than  fifteen  minutes  exposure.  Repeat  this  two  or  three  times  and  the  season  has  gone 
and  you  have  had  no  good  from  your  plant,  and  you  tell  Mrs.  Jones  and  Mrs.  Smith  that 
you  "  never  have  any  luck  with  plants."  Madam,  you  must  discard  all  such  ideas  as 
luck  if  you  wish  to  succeed  as  a  plant-grower.  There  is  no  luck  that  enters  into  it.  The 
luck  that  produced  the  healthy,  vigorous  young  geranium  in  photo  160,  consisted  in 
putting  the  flower-pot  into  a  jardiniere,  and  thereby  warding  off  the  hot  rays  of  the  sun, 
and  preserved  the  roots  cool  and  moist,  about  the  same  as  they  would  be  in  the  open 
ground. 

You  can  ruin  any  pot  plant  by  exposing  it  to  the  rays  of  the  hot  sun,  or  even  a  sur- 
rounding hot,  dry  air,  such  as  you  find  in  an  ordinary  dwelling  room,  or  by  a  low  tem- 
perature, which  would  chill  and  destroy  the  feeders.  Geraniums,  fuchsias,  heliotropes, 
79 


begonias,  carnations  and  roses  fail  almost  entirely,  when  potted,  from  this  source.  Photo 
161  gives  you  a  view  of  a  rubber  plant,  grown  in  about  sixteen  weeks,  by  Mrs.  F.  H.  Clark, 
of  Cleveland,  O.  It  has  been  kept  in  the  jardiniere  which  you  see  by  the  side  of  the  plant. 
The  millions  of  plants  that  have  been  destroyed  from  this  source  certainly  ought  to  be 
enough  to  lead  amateurs  to  pause,  think,  and  adapt  themselves  to  conditions  that  will 
result  in  success.  The  small  hanging  basket  is  a  failure  from  the  same  cause  as  the 
aforementioned  pot  plants.  Plants  in  small  vases  amount  to  nothing  for  the  same  rea- 
son. You  can  procure  the  finest  results  by  sawing  a  common  barrel  in  two  and  nailing 
sticks  on  outside  for  ornamentation,  and  using  this  for  a  lawn  vase.  Two  or  three  bush- 
els of  soil  can  be  put  into  such  a  receptacle,  and  vines,  coleus,  geraniums,  feverfews, 
lantanas  and  such  like  will  make  the  rankest  kind  of  growth  in  them.  Therefore,  if  you 
are  going  to  have  a  hanging  basket  or  vase,  be  sure  you  get  large  ones  ;  for,  having  such 
an  abundance  of  earth,  they  retain  the  moisture  and  make  a  luxuriant  growth. 

The  jardinieres  of  to-day  are  very  handsome  and,  though  they  seem  high-priced,  by 
all  means  procure  them,  even  if  you  do  with  less  plants.  Small  boxes  or  anything  else 
in  which  to  plunge  the  flower-pot  will  answer  the  same  purpose  as  the  handsomer  jardi- 
niere. A  neat  window  box,  eight  inches  deep  and  one  foot  wide,  with  plants  set  in  it  and 
spaces  filled  in  with  moss,  will  answer  all  the  purposes  of  the  jardiniere. 

If  you  purchase  a  plant  in  a  small  pot,  turn  it  upside  down,  tap  the  edge  on  some- 
thing hard,  and  the  ball  of  earth  will  come  out  of  the  pot.  Examine  rootlets  ;  if  they 
appear  brown  and  dried,  it  indicates  that  it  is  getting  pot-bound  and  should  have  been 
shifted  into  a  larger  crock  before.  Shift  at  once  into  a  four-  or  five-inch  pot,  in  six  or 
eight  weeks  into  a  six-inch.  Common  pot  plants  should  be  shifted  at  least  three  times 
in  the  growing  season.  The  florists'  rule  is:  "Never  let  a  plant  get  pot-bound,  but 
maintain  '  working  roots,'  "  i.  e.,  those  that  have  a  whitish  look.  When  the  roots  begin 
to  turn  brown,  it  indicates  that  they  are  being  subjected  to  conditions  that  are  unfavora- 
ble ;  that  they  have  either  been  affected  by  too  high  or  too  low  temperature,  or  that  they 
need  more  room. 

The  one  lesson  that  the  United  States  must  learn  is  to  take  care  of  the  roots  of  their 
trees,  shrubs  and  plants.  All  the  troubles  that  are  classed  as  "  blight  "  in  trees,  dried- 
up  farm  crops  and  withered  flowering  plants  are  to  be  traced  to  root  failure.  This  is 
one  of  the  points  that  we  have  endeavored  so  much  to  impress  on  the  reader  of  this 
work.  People  must  learn  it  and  apply  the  remedy  or  continue  to  fail.  Nature  will  not 
turn  aside  to  make  amends  for  anyone's  lack  of  knowledge  or  neglect.  Remember, 
then,  the  two  points  of  danger,  namely  :  You  can  weaken  the  plant  with  loo  much  water 
or  not  enough.  In  pot  culture,  you  guard  against  too  much  by  providing  a  good  drain- 
age. This  you  can  do  by  placing  a  few  bits  of  stone,  broken  crock  or  rough  gravel  in 
the  bottom  of  the  flower-pot  and,  as  just  stated,  you  prevent  the  burning  of  the  roots 
by  shading  the  crock  in  the  box  or  jardiniere.  There  is  no  established  rule  for  watering 
potted  plants  further  than  this,  namely;  if  it  be  in  the  winter  months  and  the  plant  is  nearly 
dormant,  it  may  not  need  watering  once  a  week  ;  if  it  be  the  summer  months  and  the 
plant  is  growing  rapidly,  it  may  require  watering  twice  a  day  or  more.  Never  let  the 
earth  get  soggy  or  parched  ;  keep  nicely  moistened.  Your  success  with  pot  plants  will 
be  measured  not  so  much  by  what  you  know  about  them  as  by  how  much  you  watch  them, 
and  thereby  prevent  root  injury. 

Worms  and  other  insects  that  injure  roots  of  potted  plants  can  be  destroyed  by 
tobacco  water.  Tobacco  stems  can  be  procured  from  cigarmakers,  or  cigars,  smoking  or 
chewing  tobacco  might  be  soaked  to  a  consistency  of  strong  tea.  Tobacco  water  is  not 
only  destructive  to  vermin,  but  is  a  good  fertilizer.  Syringe  the  plants  with  tobacco 
water  to  kill  lice,  green  fly  and  such  pests.  If  you  cannot  dislodge  the  green  fly  by 
spraying,  put  plant  into  a  dry  goods  box  and  cover  with  carpet  or  some  other  material. 
Put  in  a  tin  pan  with  ashes  in  the  bottom  and  live  coals  on  top,  on  which  you  place 
tobacco  stems.  Don't  overdose  at  first,  for  the  heliotrope  and  some  other  plants  are 
easily  injured  by  tobacco  smoke.  Remember,  it  is  much  easier  to  keep  the  vermin  off 


the  plant  than  it  is  to  drive  them  off.  Keep  the  plant  healthy  by  caring  for  the  roots 
and  a  comparatively  little  syringing  with  tobacco  water  would  make  the  foliage  of  such 
a  plant  an  undesirable  habitation  for  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bug.  To  remove  scales  from  the 
ivy,  orange  tree  or  any  other  plant,  make  a  wash  of  whale-oil  soap  and  add  a  very  little 
carbolic  acid.  A  small,  flat  paint  brush  is  a  convenient  implement  to  apply  it  with.  If 
scales  stick  too  tight,  get  a  splinter  of  wood  and  gently  scrape  the  branch,  but  do  not 
break  through  the  bark.  Syringe  with  water  in  about  two  hours  after  applying  wash. 

Good  soil  for  pot  plants  is  very  essential.  Those  living  in  cities  and  having  no  gar- 
dens would  better  get  it  from  the  florist.  Those  having  a  garden  should  keep  a  pile  on 
hand.  Never  waste  the  leaves  of  trees.  Make  a  heap  and  rot  them  down.  Leaf  mould, 
with  common  soil,  makes  the  best  of  potting  soil.  Have  a  pile  of  rotted  sod  on  hand. 
To  make  a  soil  that  will  do  for  all  pot  plants,  mix  one-half  rotten  sod  or  good  garden 
soil  with  one-fourth  well  rotted  manure  and  one-fourth  decayed  leaves.  This  will  never 
"bake."  These  are  the  main  points  that  will  lead  to  success  in  pot -plant  culture  ;  the 
little  variations  and  details  you  will  learn  by  observation  and  application. 

THE  GRAPE-VINE. 

So  much  has  been  written  concerning  the  grape  that  it  seems  everyone  would  know 
how  to  cultivate  it.  Instead  of  this,  it  is  blunder  and  fail  in  the  majority  of  cases  of 
attempts  to  grow  it.  Some  years  ago,  an  acquaintance  of  mine  requested  me  to  fix  up 
his  three  vines  so  that  they  would  bear.  Examination  revealed  the  fact  that  they  had 
been  "  butchered'1''  five  years  in  succession.  Some  fellow,  in  order  to  make  a  dollar,  had 
posed  as  a  "  professor  "  of  vineyards.  He  had  followed  the  stupid  custom  of  cutting  all 
the  branches  back  to  "  two  eyes."  The  vines  were  run  on  a  trellis,  some  thirty  feet  in 
length,  and  were  very  strong.  This  grape-destroyer  had  actually  cut  off  and  thrown 
away  about  ninety-nine-hundredths  of  the  fruit-buds  !  The  roots,  being  very  vig- 
orous, had  forced  the  remaining  fruit-buds  into  strong  ivood  to  repair  the  damage  of  the 
destroyer.  This  had  been  continued  for  five  years,  resulting  in  no  fruit.  We  took  the 
vines  from  the  trellis,  spread  them  out,  cut  away  all  dead  wood  and  wTeak  branches  and 
preserved  the  robust  canes  over  twenty  feet  in  length,  which  were  retied  to  the  trellis, 
spread  out  so  that  the  light  and  air  could  play  around  them.  The  result  was,  six  bushels 
of  grapes  !  Grape-vines,  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands,  have  been  practically  destroyed 
by  this  "  two-eye  "  folly.  The  error  originated  some  thirty  or  more  years  ago  by  a  sug- 
gested plan  to  throw  all  the  force  of  the  vine  into  one  branch  and  then  run  this  on  a 
\v\re,  fonfi  fruit-spurs  at  every  bud,  and  then  keep  the  new  wood  at  those  joints  cut  back 
to  tivo  eyes.  That  system  works  all  right  if  people  know  how  to  do  it.  This  found  its 
way  into  the  newspapers  and  a  rage  commenced.  "  Two  eyes,"  "  two  eyes,"  in  every 
newspaper.  If  nature  had  not  asserted  her  power  and  persisted  in  living  in  spite  of  the 
vine-butcher,  there  would  not  have  been  a  grape-vine  left  with  one  eye. 

As  all  who  grow  grapes  for  the  market  are  supposed  to  have  informed  themselves  on 
the  various  systems  of  cultivating  and  training  the  grape,  a  few  suggestions  to  the  ama- 
teur is  all  that  is  needed. 

In  pruning,  cut  out  all  old  wood  and  strip  off  old  bark.  Cut  out  all  weak  branches 
and  preserve  only  the  vigorous  ones,  and  tie  these  up  where  they  will  be  spread  out  to 
light  and  air. 

In  Kugland  the  grape  is  grown  almost  entirely  under  glass  (in  "graperies  ").  Some 
twenty  years  ago  I  became  acquainted  with  an  Englishman  who  had  just  come  over  the 
"pond."  He  was  a  fairly  well-trained  gardener  and  hired  out  to  a  gentleman  of  con- 
siderable means.  He  followed  the  English  method  of  summer  pruning  of  a  grape  fas- 
tened against  a  brick  wall  on  the  south  side  of  a  building.  He  cut  away  the  leaves 
severely  to  admit  light  and  air,  and  he  succeeded  !  He  let  in  enough  sun  to  heat  the 
bricks  scalding  hot !  The  intense  heat  was  reflected  on  the  under  part  of  the  leaf  and 
scalded  the  epidermis.  The  outer  edges  of  the  leaves  commenced  to  curl  back  and 
shrivel.  In  a  few  weeks  the  wail  went  up,  "  The  grapes  are  blasted  and  covered  with 


mildew."  In  the  name  of  George  Washington,  what  else  could  happen  to  them?  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Mildew  were  abroad  on  atmospheric  wings,  hunting  up  territory  where  to 
raise  a  prolific  family. 

Just  after  a  rain-storm  they  came  along  and,  in  their  way,  said,  "  Thanks,  Mr. 
Englishman,  for  preparing  this  soil  ;  here  is  where  we'll  locate."  In  a  few  weeks  their 
name  was  "  Billions  !  "  We  were  called  upon  for  advice,  which  was  given,  and  was  sub- 
stantially this  :  My  friend,  in  England  it  was  a  necessity,  where  there  is  not  enough  sun 
for  the  grape,  to  cut  away  a  part  of  the  foliage  to  admit  light  and  air,  but  here,  on  the 
south  side  of  a  brick  building,  where  there  is  a  torrid  heat,  you  must  perform  no  summer 
pruning.  You  must  leave  on  all  the  foliage  to  shade  the  fruit  and  prevent  the  sun  from 
heating  the  bricks  and  reflecting  such  heat  on  leaf  and  fruit,  thereby  destroying  the 
epidermis.  The  suggestions  were  followed,  resulting,  the  following  year,  in  perfect 
fruit.  When  the  calamity  happened  to  the  vines  just  mentioned,  the  effect  on  the  foli- 
age was  substantially  the  same  as  that  on  the  leaves  of  the  pear  trees  alluded  to  on  page 
48.  In  both  cases  the  power  of  the  leaf  to  perform  its  functions  was  destroyed,  one 
from  a  temperature  of  about  20  degrees,  the  other  above  120  degrees  as  it  reflected  from 
the  scalding  bricks.  In  such  occurrences  the  feeding  rootlets  are  affected  and,  in  a  few 
days,  perish.  The  spores,  then,  lodge  on  this  dead  tissue,  and  the  various  diseases  begin 
to  multiply.  After  such  a  shock  no  plant  can  reestablish  itself  the  same  season. 

Volumes  have  been  written  concerning  "  black  rot  "  and  kindred  diseases  of  the 
grape,  but  the  facts  are,  all  those  maladies  have  their  origin  from  the  same  source,  i.  e., 
the  destruction  of  the  root.  Remember  that  the  root  may  perish  in  consequence  of  the 
leaf  having  first  been  destroyed,  or  the  root  may  drown,  die  of  thirst,  or  otherwise  lose 
its  life,  and  thereby  destroy  the  leaf.  It  matters  not  which  is  attacked  first,  both  have 
to  suffer.  The  injured  leaf  is  appropriate  soil  for  the  fungi  and  the  feeding-ground  for 
bugs.  In  the  case  of  the  vine  on  the  south  side  of  the  brick  building,  it  was  destructive 
to  the  crop  to  apply  summer  pruning  ;  but  suppose  a  vine  stands  in  some  shady  place 
and  has  heavy  foliage  ;  in  this  case  a  part  of  the  young  vines  and  large  leaves  must  be 
removed,  or  they  commence  decayingybr  the  want  of  air,  and  mildew  at  once  sets  in  on 
them.  The  viticulturist  realizes  that  he  must  preserve  a  healthy  foliage  ;  this  cannot  be 
done  without  a  sound  root. 

Here  comes  in  the  unfortunate  part  of  the  whole  affair.  Those  who  were  engaged 
in  the  introduction  of  grapes,  forty  or  fifty  years  ago,  took  the  greatest  pains  to  prepare 
the  soil  and  to  have  it  deep  and  well-drained  and  kept  clear  of  weeds.  Since  that  time 
the  spirit  of  money-making  has  inaugurated  a  pell-mell  rush  in  producing  numbers  of 
vines,  and  now  we  purchase  vines  that  have  been  weakened  through  neglect  or  thought- 
lessness and  often  grown  amid  rank  and  destructive  weeds.  The  great  desire  among 
nurserymen  has  been  to  find  a  grape  that  is  mildew-proof.  I  speak  reverently  and 
thoughtfully  when  I  say  that  the  Almighty  himself  could  not  produce  such  a  specimen 
without  changing  the  taws  He  has  established.  The  normal  condition  of  everything  is 
health,  and  it  is  a  crime  to  be  sick.  The  mildew,  black  rot,  bird's-eye  rot,  etc.,  with 
which  we  are  afflicted,  is  the  penalty  we  are  paying  for  the  neglect  of  the  roots,  bad 
drainage,  shallow  and  poor  soil  and  plants  that  have  been  iveakened  by  overwork.  As  we 
improve  the  quality  of  a  plant  we  reduce  the  hardiness  of  it.  This  is  illustrated  with  the 
coleus.  The  more  richly-colored  the  leaf,  the  weaker  the  constitution  of  the  plant. 
This  is  generally  true  with  cereals  and  fruits;  hence,  just  in  proportion  as  we  have  made 
improvements  in  fruit,  in  that  same  ratio  we  should  have  kept  up  a  high  state  of  culti- 
vation. But,  alas!  things  have  gone  in  just  the  opposite  direction!  The  most  inexcus- 
able thoughtlessness  and  neglect  have  characterized  our  whole  conduct  in  planting  and 
cultivation,  or  rather  non-cultivation  of  vines  and  trees  and,  thereby,  as  before  stated, 
we  have  created  the  most  prolific  hot-beds  of  the  diseases  with  which  we  now  have  to 
battle. 

How  many  grape-vines  did  you  ever  see  that  were  pestered  with  the  "rot"  or  mildew 
when  they  were  allowed  to  run  wild?  Not  many;  for  in  a  wild  state  their  plant  sense 


leads  them  to  adjust  themselves  so  that  each  branch  may  receive  the  necessary  amount 
of  light  and  air;  an  example  of  this  is  given  in  photo  163.  If  you  have  a  grape-vine 
that  does  not  do  well  and  it  stands  near  a  tree  for  which  you  care  but  little,  let  the  vine 
take  possession  of  the  tree  and  you  will  have  a  great  abundance  of  unblemished  grapes, 
although  the  bunches  may  not  be  quite  as  large  as  some  grown  for  exhibition  purposes. 
The  grape  must  have  perfect  drainage,  and  the  soil  should  be  prepared  not  less  than 
three  feet  deep,  with  bones,  lime  and  ashes  worked  in  the  bottom. 

The  whole  country  is  smarting  under  the  punishment  of  our  neglect  and  oversights. 
There  are  two  things  that  we  must  do  to  gain  the  ascendency  over  our  insect  and  fun- 
gous foes.  We  have  been  keeping  both  eyes  on  the  top  of  the  tree.  We  must  now  keep 
only  one  (the  left  one)  on  the  branch  and  the  other  on  the  root.  Our  scientists  are,  as  a 
rule,  not  only  men  of  knowledge  but  of  good  sense,  and  I  sincerely  hope  that  our  agri- 
cultural experiment  stations  will  use  their  utmost  powers  to  educate  the  people  to  pro- 
vide better  root  conditions  for  all  plant  life;  in  this  way  the  plant  will  regain  power  to 
help  itself  while  we  are  attending  to  part  second,  namely: 

KEEP  ON  SPRAYING. 

Almost  everyone  interested  in  a  tree  or  vine  has  informed  himself  on  spraying  pumps 
and  insecticides.  With  nursery  stock  diseased  and  plants,  from  which  we  obtain  our 
seeds,  vitiated  from  poor  soil  and  attacks  of  insects,  it  becomes  a  very  grave  question  as 
to  how  many  real  healthy  plants  we  have  to  start  in  with.  Therefore,  it  is  the  duty  of 
every  citizen  who  has  a  tree  or  plant,  to  act  as  a  volunteer  in  making  war  on  these  insect 
pests.  He  should  equip  himself  with  a  "spraying  machine,"  if  it  be  nothing  but  a  hand 
one.  If  a  general  raid  were  made  on  these  foes  with  insecticides,  holding  them  in  check, 
while  we  pull  out  and  burn  up  half  of  the  fruit  trees  and  vines  now  in  existence,  and 
commence  planting  nothing  but  healthy  stock,  being  careful  the  soil  is  prepared  right 
and  keep  the  ground  well  cultivated  and  perfectly  free  from  weeds,  inside  of  fifteen 
years  there  would  be  an  entirely  new  era  in  fruit-growing.  This  is  no  dream  it  is  a 
grand  possibility  that  lies  before  the  American  people.  The  wise  man  can  certainly  see 
this  as  plain  as  the  noon-day  sun,  and  the  wiser  and  wisest  of  men  will  begin  to  hitch 
their  teams  to  the  old,  pest-breeding  trees  and  vines,  pull  them  out  and  burn  them  up, 
prepare  new  fields  for  orchards  and  vineyards,  take  time  to  prepare  the  soil  rightly,  see 
that  the  under  draining  is  perfect,  hunt  up  a  nursery  that  will  give  a  guarantee  of  per- 
fectly healthy  plants,  form  the  tops  in  the  right  place,  look  after  the  pruning  every  sea- 
son, see  that  trees  are  properly  guarded,  fertilize  annually,  etc.,  etc.  — such  a  man  will  go 
into  the  market  with  large,  tempting,  luscious  fruits;  and,  last  but  not  least,  come  home 
with  a  pocket  full  of  money. 

There  is  a  great  lamentation  throughout  the  land  over  the  deterioration  of  our  fruits, 
but  hitherto  the  people  have  not  discovered  the  real  sources.  In  the  wounding  of  apple 
and  other  fruit  trees  we  have  poisoned  the  sap  with  the  dead  tissue  that  passes  into  the 
circulation  and  created  harbors  for  insects  and  weakened  the  constitution  of  the  plant  by 
this  grave  error.  Then,  having  failed  to  underdrain  and  prepare  the  depth  of  soil  that 
should  be  for  our  trees  and  vines  and,  having  failed,  also,  to  cultivate  and  keep  clear  of 
weeds,  we  have  allowed  these  faithful  friends  of  ours  to  wilt  in  the  hot  sun  and  thereby 
destroy  the  leaf  on  which,  in  turn,  the  fungi  take  root  and  on  which  insects  in  untold 
billions  feed  and  thrive,  we  having  created  the  conditions  on  which  they  exist. 


Inspection  of  Nurseries. 


In  asserting  that  our  scientists  have  fallen  into  error,  the  author  of  this  work  has  no 
intention  of  casting  reflections  upon  gentlemen  of  such  excellent  ability  as  those  who 
have  rendered  so  valuable  service  to  our  country  by  their  tireless  investigation  and 
research  ;  far  from  it.  But  the  facts  are  herein  set  forth  that  pear  blight,  leaf  blight,  or 
any  other  blight  conies  from  the  destruction  of  \hzfeeding  roots. 

In  bulletin  72,  page  199,  issued  by  the  agricultural  experiment  station,  Wooster, 
Ohio,  in  August,  1896,  there  is  a  photograph  of  peach  trees  affected  by  the  "  yellows," 
but  they  are  growing  in  a  raspberry  patch  !  Now,  what  can  you  expect  from  a  peach 
tree  with  such  environments  ?  How  in  the  name  of  good  sense  could  a  tree  stand  a 
chance  to  procure  moisture  when  raspberries  (and  probably  grass  and  weeds)  were  pump- 
ing it  from  the  soil  ?  Among  the  sure  signs  of  yellows  are  the  well-known  facts  that  the 
winter  buds  and  adventitious  buds  often  become  excited  into  growth  in  August  or  the 
fall  months.  To  some  this  seems  mysterious  ;  there  is  no  mystery  about  it.  Remember, 
if  you  have  cut  off  the  moisture  from  the  roots  the  leaves  must  suffer.  When  the  leaves 
drop,  the  tremendous  effort  of  nature  is  then  asserted  to  maintain  life  itself.  Life  can- 
not be  continued  long  without  foliage.  The  tree,  then,  calls  on  all  its  "  reserves  "  to 
carry  it  through  the  ordeal.  The  latent  buds  then  spring  to  the  rescue,  form  new  lungs 
for  the  tree,  manufacture  the  cambium,  etc.  The  mischief  that  has  been  done,  however, 
cannot  be  undone.  Sooner  or  later  the  tree  will  perish.  We  have  elsewhere  set  forth  the 
fact  that  the  main  battle  is  won  over  disease  in  the  preparation  of  the  soil.  Before  an 
orchard  is  planted,  two  years  should  be  taken  in  making  the  soil  ready.  A  plenty  of 
manure,  lime,  ashes  and  sub-soiling  are  essential.  Individuals  setting  a  few  trees  can 
prepare  in  short  order  by  digging  holes  (see  pages  41  and  54).  This  one  fact  must  be 
kept  constantly  before  the  mind,  namely  :  it  matters  not  what  kind  of  manure  you  apply 
to  a  plant,  it  derives  no  benefit  from  it,  only  as  it  is  in  a  state  of  solution  ;  in  plain 
terms,  only  when  the  food  is  soaked  out  and  mixed  with  water.  Those  wonderful,  micro- 
scopic workers  that  we  have  been  pleading  for  so  hard,  absorb  or  literally  drink  lip  all 
plant  food  in  a  liquid  form,  just  like  those  marvelous  little  glands  or  ducts  in  the  stom- 
ach and  intestines  of  the  animal  or  human  being,  which  absorb  all  nutriment  in  a  juicy 
or  liquid  state.  If  the  tree  is  planted  in  poor  soil,  and  has  nothing  but  water,  it  neces- 
sarily will  be  frail. 

Now,  suppose  you  plant  a  small,  young,  healthy  tree  in  the  proper  soil  and,  instead 
of  planting  raspberries,  or  allowing  grass  and  weeds  to  grow,  every  fall  you  apply  a  good 
top  dressing  of  manure  and,  in  the  spring,  work  in  a  little  lime  and  ashes,  and  cultivate 
to  keep  down  weeds  ;  the  result  of  such  a  course  would  be  the  maintenance  of  perfect 
health,  and  I  repeat  the  assertion,  health  defies  disease.  I  do  not  pretend  to  know  what 
"peach -yellows"  is  and  no  one  else  seems  to  know.  It  is  not  necessary  to  know  what 
smallpox  is;  but  this  we  do  know,  that  a  perfectly  healthy  person  will-dot  take  it.  Med- 
ical authorities  tell  us  that  a  healthy  stomach  will  digest  the  germs  of  any  disease,  actu- 
ally convert  them  into  food!  One  man  spends  a  lot  of  money  in  trying  to  exterminate 
rats;  another  uses  a  \\\.\.\e.  forethought  and  constructs  his  barn  so  that  rats  and  mice  can- 
not get  into  it;  every  child  knows  which  is  the  wiser  man. 

The  fact  that  peach-yellows  has  been  proven  to  be  contagious  by  budding  deceased 
w7ood  into  healthy  trees  does  not  disprove  what  I  assert,  i.  e. :  a  healthy  plant  defies  dis- 
ease. You  may  inoculate  a  person  with  the  virus  of  any  malignant  disease  and,  per- 
haps, produce  death.  But  you  have  not  proven  that  such  a  person  had  not  the  vital 
force  to  repel  such  a  disease  had  it  not  \>zzn  forced  into  his  system. 

Life,  everywhere,  is  a  great  battle  and  the  victories  are  won  by  first  attacking  the 
weak  points.  When  once  an  entrance  is  gained,  then  the  "strongholds"  may  be  reduced. 
We  know  of  such  a  thing  as  "body  lice,"  but  such  disgusting  creatures  do  not  exist  on 
healthy  bodies,  but  are  found  on  those  that  are  impoverished  and  covered  with  effete 

81 


matter  and  other  filth.  The  spores  of  fungi  float  in  the  air,  and  just  as  soon  as  the  state 
of  a  leaf  is  in  a  favorable  condition  they  take  root  and  begin  to  multiply. 

The  gentlemen  at  the  head  of  our  numerous  experimental  stations,  together  with 
other  scientists,  in  twenty  years  have  done  more  investigating  and  brought  to  light  more 
facts  concerning  fungous  diseases,  scaled  insects,  bugs,  etc.  (and  also  given  the  remedies), 
than  the  other  nations  have  done  in  the  whole  history  of  the  world.  This  is  characteristic 
of  America.  Whether  it  be  in  base  ball,  horse  race,  commercial  activity  or  even  war, 
Uncle  Sam  "gets  there!"  But,  hold  on,  uncle,  just  one  minute.  It  won't  hurt  you  to 
take  time  enough  to  wipe  the  sweat  from  your  brow,  expand  your  chest  and  fill  vour 
lungs  with  //oxygen!  Permit  me  to  tell  you,  uncle,  that  amid  your  hurry-scurry,  money- 
making,  microscopic-disease-hunting,  remedy-finding  labors,  you  have  overlooked  one 
important  fact,  namely,  that  while  you  have  labored  conscientiously  and  faithfully  in 
examining  leaves  and  branches,  drawing  and  printing  the  shapes  of  formidable  bugs  and 
pests  of  every  description,  you,  at  the  same  time,  have  been  preparing  the  conditions  on 
which  these  dreaded  diseases  thrive,  by  neglecting  the  ROOTS  oi  the  plant.  The  time 
has  come  when  America,  in  order  to  defeat  the  innumerable  billions  of  insect  pests, 
must  pause  long  enough  to  learn  from  British,  French  and  German  horticulturists  and 
orchardists  that  the  first  and  all-important  step  to  success  in  tree  culture  (in  fact,  in  the 
cultivation  of  all  crops)  lies  in  the  preparation  of  the  soil  and  good  drainage. 

But,  alas!  alas!  the  diseases  are  among  us!  Whence  came  they?  Have  they  sprung 
up  from  our  individual  neglect,  or  were  they  introduced  from  the  nurseries  in  a  diseased 
condition?  Perhaps  from  both  sources.  Our  experimental  stations  have  traced  diseased 
plants  to  the  nurseries  from  which  they  came  and  have  experimented  on  diseased  trees 
///  the  nurseries.  One  thing  we  do  know,  i.  e.,  that  many  nursery  firms  not  only  advo- 
cate deep  plowing,  sub-soiling,  etc.,  but  practice  it.  But  other  questions  arise,  such  as, 
have  they  overworked  their  soil,  failed  to  fertilize,  etc.,  and,  thereby,  weakened  their 
stock?  Are  their  buds  and  scions  always  taken  from  perfectly  healthy  trees  ?  I  have 
not  had  the  opportunity  to  make  personal  examination,  consequently  cannot  be  charged 
with  intimating  aught  against  any  particular  Jinn.  But  this  I  say  with  positiveness, 
that  every  nursery  in  the  United  Slates  should  be  kept  under  governmental  inspection  as 
watchfully  as  the  products  of  packing  houses  or  other  articles  are  kept  under  the 
vigilance  of  the  pure  food  commission.  The  fact  that  leaf  blight  (spotted  leaves)  have 
been  detected  in  nurseries  would  indicate  light,  sandy  or  poor  soil.  (See  "Blight").  No 
nursery  should  be  permitted  to  send  out  stock  unless  it  be  under  a  guarantee  of  being 
true  to  name,  and  absolutely  sound  in  health.  Nursery  firms  that  have  healthy  stock 
will  say  "Amen"  to  this  proposition.  If  any  be  found  that  have  stock  vitiated  by  inoc- 
ulation from  "yellows"  or  any  other  constitutional  disease,  or  infested  with  the  San  Jose 
scale,  mealy  bug  or  any  other  contagious  pest,  thev  should  not  grumble  if  they  are 
ordered  by  the  government  to  dig  up  such  pest-breeders  and  consign  them  to  the  flames. 
Government  is  for  the  protection  of  the  citizens  and,  if  you  want  laws  to  thus  protect 
your  interests,  see  that  they  are  enacted. 

The  United  States  is  waking  up  to  the  fact  that  fruit  acts  both  as  a.  food  and  medi- 
cine, but  fruits  from  unhealthy  trees,  while  the}-  are  not  poison,  are  far  from  being  desir- 
able. What  we  need  is  a  great  abundance  of  fruit,  from  healthy  trees,  so  that  it  will  be 
so  cheap  that  all,  the  poor  as  well  as  rich,  can  have  all  that  is  needed.  This  would,  in 
part,  destroy  the  appetite  for  strong  drink. 

When  your  order  of  young  trees  comes  from  any  nursery,  before  planting  treat  them 
with  the  following  mixture,  prescribed  by  the  Ohio  experiment  station;  we  have  found 
this  to  be  one  of  the  best  to  destroy  bark-lice  or  any  other  lurking  pests: 

Dissolve  one  quart  of  soft  soap  or  one-fourth  pound  of  hard  soap  in  two  quarts  of 
boiling  water.  Make  a  mixture  by  taking  seven  parts  of  this  solution  and  one  part  of 
crude  carbolic  acid.  Apply  with  a  scrub-brush,  but  be  careful  not  to  break  off  the  buds 
on  the  leader. 


Talk  With  Boys  and  Girls. 


YOUNG  FRIENDS  :  Did  you  ever  stop  to  think  that  twenty-five  years  from  now 
America  will  be  just  what  you  are?  To  put  the  matter  in  a  declarative  form,  you  who 
will  then  be  alive  will  be  America  as  the  world  ivill  read  it.  What  will  you  be?  If  you 
do  not  know  let  me  tell  you:  You  will  be  just  what  your  thoughts  have  made  you.  What 
books  do  you  read?  Every  word  you  hear  and  every  word  you  read  is  the  picture  of  a 
thought.  Your  mind  is  a  camera,  your  eye  is  a  lense,  your  brain  is  a  sensitive  plate 
which  receives  the  image  of  the  object  for  which  the  word  stands;  hence,  just  whatever 
shall  be  the  nature  of  your  reading  matter  and  the  company  you  keep,  these  will  deter- 
mine the  thoughts  that  are  kept  before  your  mind;  and  your  outward,  visible  self  will  be 
only  an  expression  of  your  real  self,  your  thoughts.  This  is  an  age  of  fiction,  and  I 
know  of  nothing  particularly  wrong  in  a  fictitious  work  when  read  for  the  purpose  of 
relieving  the  mind  from  heavy,  laborious  tasks;  but  if  you  make  fiction  your  food,  you 
will  become  &  fictitious  excuse  for  a  representative  of  manhood  or  womanhood.  It  has 
gotten  so  now  that  many  young  people  (and  some  older  ones)  cannot  read  any  facts 
unless  they  are  woven  in  with  a  "love  story." 

Take  a  look  at  photo  164.  See  how  these  two  young  people  are  absorbed  in  reading 
a  love  affair!  Nothing  bad  about  it,  but,  mark  you,  they  are  not  practical;  they  are  not 
observing  the  realities  by  which  they  are  surrounded  and  that  are  overhanging  them ! 
They  don't  seem  to  be  conscious  of  the  presence  of  that  little  rascal,  the  small  brother, 
who  is  ready  with  his  fishing-pole  to  start  the  hornets  from  the  nest  hanging  nearly  over 
them!  How  that  vision  of  Utopian  bliss  will  vanish  and  what  a  scattering  there  will  be 
when  that  nest  is  disturbed!  Don't  hug  your  best  girl  and  read  love  stories  under  a  hor- 
net's-nest. 

In  photo  165  you  have  &  practical  boy;  it  is  Paul  H.  Dave}-,  seven  years  old.  He  and 
his  brother  Ira  have  been  taking  care  of  one  thousand  young  elm  trees,  started  the  first 
year  of  the  new  century.  These  trees  are  to  be  presented  to  the  citizens  of  Cleveland 
(see  pages  50  to  56,  inclusive). 

How  many  of  you  young  people  have  made  a  study  of  plant  life?  Have  you  ever 
thought  that  life,  itself,  is  the  greatest  miracle  known?  Yet  some  avow  that  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  a  miracle.  Who  can  explain  the  life  force  of  a  blade  of  grass?  No  one. 
The  life  of  the  human,  the  life  of  the  animal  and  the  life  of  the  tree  are  all  governed  by 
similar  laws.  We  live  at  an  epoch  when  there  is  a  veritable  hobby,  bordering  on  a  craze, 
about  reforming.  There  is  a  lack  of  real,  sound  thought  in  our  social  and  religious 
systems.  A  boy  goes  astray  and  plunges  into  the  depths  of  vice.  When  he  gets  so  far 
that  he  detests  himself  and  is  loathsome  to  decent  people,  occasionally  one  will  reform, 
make  a  hero  of  himself  by  telling  what  a  demon  he  has  been,  and  good  people  lionize 
him  ;  indeed,  sometimes,  almost  make  a  demigod  of  him.  We  should  encourage  anyone 
to  do  better,  but  to  make  heroes  of  those  who  have  been  cursing  the  world  with  their 
vices  is  not  salutary.  The  formation  of  character  is  what  we  should  encourage,  and  in 
that  every  boy  and  girl  should  strive  to  be  perfect.  In  photos  32  and  33  you  have  trees  that 
have  been  rightly  formed,  while  photo  87  shows  you  a  specimen  that  is  deformed  and,  in 
96,  is  a  tree  that  has  been  started  on  a  process  of  reforming.  It  is  better  to  reform  than 
to  go  on  to  destruction;  but  how  deplorable  even  to  think  of  the  result  of  bad  influences 
that  grow  out  of  evil  that  has  been  committed!  And  think  of  a  character  tarnished  with 
vice  and  wounded  with  crime!  Young  people,  think  of  this  :  a  wrong  that  is  done  never 
can  be  undone.  What  a  distressing  and  deplorable  sight  are  the  wounds  on  the  trees  on 
the  first  dozen  pages  of  this  work!  How  infinitely  more  hideous  will  be  the  wounds  on 
your  moral  character  if  you  allow  them  to  be  placed  there.  How  inexcusable  the  folly 
of  wasting  a  life  in  vice  when  there  is  no  end  to  the  good  that  might  charm  our  lives  and 
fill  us  with  joy  unspeakable! 

Nothing  fills  one  with  greater  delight  nor  is  more  elevating  than  the  study  of  nature. 


He  who  studies  a  leaf  or  a  flower  is  brought  into  communion  with  the  Creator. 
It  is  hoped  that  all  young  people  will  catch  the  spirit  of  this  work  and  help  to  pro- 
cure trees,  plants  and  flowers  that  will  be  perfect  in  health  and  symmetrical  in  form,  and 
fruits  and  flowers  that  shall  cheer  and  bless  our  homes;  but  don't  forget  to  form  your 
own  character.  Next  to  the  study  of  nature  on  this  planet  comes  that  of  astronomy, 
which,  perhaps,  is  the  most  thrilling  and  awe-inspiring  of  any  science  taught.  Truly, 
"The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God  and  the  firmament  showeth  forth  His  handiwork; 
day  unto  day  uttereth  speech,  and  night  unto  night  showeth  knowledge." 

However  people  can  drift  into  a  habit  of  reading  silly  trash  is  a  mystery  I  never  could 
comprehend.  Learn  all  we  can  concerning  life  on  this  globe  and  what  we  can  from  the 
firmament  above,  and  we  have  only  gathered  a  few  pebbles  from  the  beach  of  an  infinite 
ocean  of  facts!  Young  people,  in  the  name  of  America,  the  heaven-blessed  land  you  so 
much  love,  I  pray  you  read  no  literature  and  form  no  companionships  that  will  lead  to  a 
wasted  life  and  a  deformed  character. 

One  evening,  last  October,  we  took  a  notion  to  photograph  the  moon.  We  give  you 
the  result  in  photo  167.  It  was  a  strange  freak  of  the  camera.  The  exposure  was  about 
ninety  seconds.  How  to  account  for  two  full  moons,  a  half  moon  and  a  double  eclipse 
is  too  hard  for  the  author  of  this  work  to  explain.  Photo  166  is  the  camera's  record  of 
the  rising  sun.  Oh!  that  glorious,  life-giving,  immutable  orb!  Almost  infinite  is  his 
power!  You  see  the  floating  particle  of  mist,  the  tiny,  dancing  snow  flakes;  they  fall, 
they  melt,  they  unite  with  others.  "  Little  rills  make  wider  streamlets,  streamlets  swell 
the  river's  flow,  onward,  onward,  as  they  go,"  and  by  the  accumulation  of  the  waters  of 
many  rivers,  the  majestic  Mississippi  and  the  mighty  Amazon  are  formed.  Did  vou  ever 
think  of  the  millions  of  tons  of  water  that  are  daily  poured  into  the  oceans  from  our 
great  rivers?  Probably  you  have  ;  but  have  you  thought  of  how  this  inconceivable 
quantity  of  water  was  first  lifted  by  the  sun  in  the  form  of  invisible  particles  of  mois- 
ture, diffused  through  the  atmosphere,  condensed  as  dew  or  rain-drops,  taken  up  by  the 
roots  of  trees  and  plants  of  every  kind  and  carried  to  the  leaf,  that  marvelous  laboratory 
of  nature,  where  the  vitalizing  oxygen  is  manufactured,  without  which  no  animal  or 
human  being  can  live?  If  you  have,  you  certainly  must  realize  something  of  the  import- 
ance of  producing  and  maintaining  a  healthy  leaf.  One  of  the  objects  of  this  work  has 
been  to  show  that  there  cannot  be  a  sound  leaf  without  a  healthy  root. 

God  bless  the  noble  souls  who  introduced  Arbor  Day.  May  every  child  learn  the 
mission  of  the  tree  and  plant.  To  the  rising  generation  we  must  look  for  better  trees, 
perfect  fruits  and  sweeter  and  more  gorgeous  flowers. 

In  house-building  do  not  make  the  mistake  of  constructing  an  air-tight  house,  and 
shutting  out  the  vivifying,  electric  rays  of  "Old  Sol,"  your  best  friend,  and  then  "dope" 
yourself  with  "quack"  medicine  and  ruin  your  stomach.  Rise  with  the  lark,  study 
vocal  music  from  the  songster,  see  him  bask  in  morning  sun-rays  and  behold,  when  he 
sings,  how  every  fibre  of  his  being  thrills  with  ecstatic  joy! 

The  study  of  nature  is  purifying  to  the  soul,  and  he  who  becomes  acquainted 
with  creation  sees  the  hand  of  the  Creator;  hence,  the  Nazarene  uttered  a  grand,  philo- 
sophical truth  when  Ha  said,  "Blessed  are  the  pure  in  hear',  for  they  shall  see  God." 


INDEX. 


Wounded  Trees  

PAGES. 

5-14 

PAGES. 

Landscaping                                           62—67 

Nature's  Trees  

15-18 

Floriculture                                             67-69 

Crotched  Trees  

.  .  .18-21 

"   '       The  Rose                           69-71 

Planting  Too  Large  a  Tree  
Forming  the  Head  Too  Low.  .  . 

....21-25 

.  .  .  .26—33 

'  '           Flower-Beds  and  Vines  .  71-76 
"           The  Pansy  .                       76-79 

Pruning  Trees  

.  .  .  .  34-40 

"           Pot  Plants  ...    .               79-8i 

Planting  

.  .  .  .40—43 

Grape-Vines  81-83 

Blight  
Cleveland's  Calamity  

....43-49 

•  •  •  •  50-56 

Government     Inspection     of     Nur- 
series    84,  85 

Ornamental  Work  

.  .  .  .57-61 

Talk  With  Boys  and  Girls  86,  87 

RAIN  MACHINES. 

Very  few  people  have  a  correct  idea  of  furnishing  the  proper  quantity  of  water  for 
crops. 

By  May  ist  we  expect  to  have  the  photographs  ready  of  the  rain  machines,  which 
will  supply  the  right  amount  of  water  wherever  used.  Every  boy  and  girl  should  learn 
to  operate  them.  With  the  photographs  of  these  machines  goes  the  instructions  for  their 
use. 

With  these  will  be  given  the  photograph  of  the  home  of  good  old  John  Brown, 
whose  "soul goes  marching  on."  Also,  the  photograph  of  the  historic  "Brady's  Leap," 
and  the  place  where  the  brave  Indian  fighter  hid  under  the  trunk  of  a  fallen  tree  (in 
what  has  now  become  the  celebrated  "Brady's  lake")  while  the  red-skins  stood  on  the 
trunk  of  the  same  tree  and  discussed  as  to  his  whereabouts.  This  will  be  prepared 
especially  for  young  people  and  will  be  put  up  in  neat  booklet  form.  Price,  10  cents. 

In  this  booklet,  also,  will  be  published  the  best-known  formulas  to  be  used  in 
spraying  trees,  washes  to  destroy  bugs,  scales  or  bark-lice,  etc.  Also,  you  will  be  instructed 
how  to  prevent  potatoes  from  "running  out."  The  book  will  be  called  "Davey's  Rain- 
Maker."  It  will  be  sent  by  mail,  postage  paid. 

ADDRESS  : 

JOHN  DAVEY, 

KENT,  OHIO. 


"THE  TREE  DOCTOR" 

Has  been  kept  within  the  limits  of  ONE  DOLLAR,  so  that  those  of  moderate  means 
may  be  able  to  procure  it.  All  the  practical  points  on  tree-planting,  tree-surgery,  land- 
scaping and  floriculture,  by  the  aid  of  the  camera,  are  given  in  less  than  one  hundred 
pages,  and  "peach-yellows,"  "pear-blight"  and  all  those  maladies  commonly  called 
"  blight  "  are  traced  to  their  source. 

You  probably  have  a  friend  who  would  be  benefited  by  this  work.  You  might  bless 
him  by  sending  him  a  copy. 

Always  purchase  of  the  agent  if  he  is  around.  If  not,  send  one  dollar  to  JOHN 
DAVEY,  KENT,  OHIO,  and  the  "  Tree  Doctor"  will  be  mailed  to  you,  postage  paid. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


SERIOUS  STATE  OE  THINGS 


The  result  of  the  publication 
of  "The  Tree  Doctor"  has  been; 
its  author  has  been  called  into 
various  states  to  make  an  ex- 
amination of  trees.  This  has 
developed  the  serious  facts  that 
not  more  than  10  per  cent  of  our 
trees  are  sound!  Their  diseased 
condition  comes  either  from  neg- 
lect or  brutal  treatment.  Trees 
are  dying  before  they  have  at- 
tained to  a  third  of  their  natural 
age.  Out  of  this  condition  has 
grown  up  the  industry  of  u  TREE 
SURGERY."  Intelligent  young 
men  have  been  drilled  in  this 

work.       The  way  that  trees  revive  and  respond  to   kind   treatment  is  a 

marvel  to  those  who  are  not  acquainted  with  the  wonderful  forces  of   tree 

life. 

Here  is  a  case  of  genuine   "  Rock  Maple."     The  huge  wound  came 

from  neglect. 

The  first  photograph  shows 

the  young    '  '  Tree  Doctors  '  '  as 

they  are  tracing  the  rot  up  in- 

to the  powerful  arms  and  down 

the  trunk,  clear  into  the  roots. 

The  second  shows  the  tree  filled 

with  portland  cement.     It  took 

over  four  tons  to  fill  the  cavity. 

The  treatment  adds,  probably, 

from  one  to  t\vo  hundred  years 

of  the  life  of  the  tree. 

Those   desiring    such    work 

done  should  address 

JOHN  DAVEY, 

KENT,  ->  -  OHIO. 


A    GRE^T    WORK 

IN  WHICH  ^LL  SHOULD 


The  Tree  Doctor  was  first  published  with  a  view  of  correcting  "Tree 
Troubles"  in  Cleveland,  O.  It  has  practically  revolutionized  tree  culture 
in  that  city.  It  is  the  photographic  work  that  makes  it  affectual.  Since 
its  appearance,  the  author  of  the  work  has  been  called  in  all  directions  to 
inspect  trees,  and  now  makes  the  alarming  declaration  that  not  more  than 
ten  per  cent  of  trees  are  sound  !  To  help  arouse  the  country  to  the  serious- 
ness of  the  situation,  he  has  invested  in  a  stereoptican  lantern,  and,  by  the 
use  of  some  200  photographs,  is  enabled  to  let  people  "  SEE"  what  is  the 
trouble.  Nothing  in  the  lecture  field  has  proved  so  educational.  It  should 
be  presented  as  fast  as  possible  all  over  this  broad  land.  Those  desiring  the 
lecture,  should  communicate  with  John  Davey,  Kent,  O.,  in  order  to  arrange 
for  dates,  etc. 

The  following  letter  is  a  sample  of  the  many  favorable  testimonials 
given. 

SHARON,  PA.,  FEB.  igth,  1904. 
To  Whom  it  may  Concern  : 

At  the  request  of  the  Civic  Committee  of  the  Sharon  Board  of  Trade 
Mr.  John  Davey,  author  of  "  The  Tree  Doctor"  gave  a  stereoptican  lecture 
in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  Sharon,  Pa.  on  the  evening  of  January  21,  1904, 
showing  in  an  excellent  manner  on  canvas  the  destructive  way  in  which  our 
trees  are  being  butchered  and  also  the  means  for  remending  the  trouble 
and  thereby  preserving  their  life  and  beauty.  Mi.  Davey's  lecture  was 
repeated  the  following  evening  for  the  special  instruction  of  the  school 
children. 

We  most  heartily  commend  Mr.  Davey  in  his  laudable  effort  to 
awaken  public  sentiment  for  the  better  preservation  of  trees  and  shrubbery 
and  believe  that  by  a  more  general  dissemination  of  the  information  given 
in  his  lecture  and  also  contained  in  his  book  "The  Tree  Doctor"  that  pub- 
lic spirited  citizens  everywhere  will  be  glad  to  see  that  their  trees  have 
better  care  in  the  future  than  they  seem  to  have  had  in  the  past. 

W.  L.  WA.LLIS,  President. 

W.  B.  HERRIOTT,  Secretary. 


S  D 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


Illlllllllllillilill 

205  02700  3225 


AA   000990551 4 


*«.  . 


